Essay Classical Dance

The Classical Dances of India includes Bharatanatyam, the oldest form of the classical dance in the country and one of the Most Popular Classical Dance in India and ancient in Natya Shastra.

Bharata Natyam is considered to the oldest form of dance and mother of all other style of classical dance in India.

Bharatanatyam or the fire dance is one of the most popular styles of dance performed by male and female dancers.

Kathak is originated from Uttar Pradesh and one of the eight forms of ancient classical dances of India.

These schools are named ac­cor­ding to the geographical area in which they developed.

These are the Jaipur, Lucknow, and the Benares gharanas.Famous Kathak dance is derived from Katha or story-tellers,people who narrate stories during the whole art of Kathak dance.Kathakali is one of the most attracting classical Indian dance-drama performed by well trained artist.The emphasis shifted from the telling of re­li­gious stories to one of enter­tain­ment.Today, the story-telling aspect has been downgraded and the dance is primarily an abs­tract exploration of rhythm and move­ment.Each has a slight difference in interpretation and repertoire.Recently, New York City’s Drive East Festival showcased accomplished performers of classical Indian dance and music.When Chatterjea arrived in the United States, she realized that American dance training included strict male and female roles unlike what she was accustomed to in her Indian training.Chatterjea writes that in classical Indian dance, “since the ideal dance student is expected to render herself devoid of aham (egotism) and to become a selfless devotee of the dance, she must train to perform both male and female roles or styles of dance with equal dexterity.” There are certain dance forms that are associated with different genders, such as , or “pure dance,” without a narrative, aims to portray a male movement style classified as “warrior-like,” in tandem with a female movement style that is “gentle and soft.” Shah writes that in Kathak, male and female performers aim to go beyond themselves as performers and concentrate on their characters.In the classical dance, native to Northern India, a single dancer portrays multiple characters to tell stories based on Hindu philosophies with narratives of good versus evil.In every episode of the dance, a swift, semicircular, clockwise and anti-clockwise movement signals that the dancer is switching characters.