2. Dance is a performing
art form consisting of
purposefully selected
sequences of human movement.
This movement
has aesthetic and symbolic valu
e.

3. The classical dance forms recognised by the
Sangeet Natak Akademi and the Ministry of
Culture are:
• Bharatanatyam, from Tamil Nadu.
• Kathak, from Northern and Western India.
• Kathakali, from Kerala.
• Kuchipudi, from Andhra Pradesh.
• Odissi, from Odisha.
• Manipuri, from Manipur.
• Mohiniyattam, from Kerala.

4. • Bharatanatyam also referred to
as Sadir, is a major genre of Indian
classical dance that was originated
in Tamil Nadu.
• Traditionally, it had been a solo dance
that was performed exclusively by
women and it expressed Hindu religious
themes and spiritual ideas.

5. • Bharatanatyam style is noted for its fixed upper torso, legs
bent or knees flexed out combined with spectacular
footwork, based on gestures of hands, eyes and face
muscles.
• The dance is accompanied by music and a singer.
Typically the guru is present as a director and conductor
of the performance.

6. • The origin of Kathak is traditionallyattributed to
the travelling poets of ancient northern India,
known as Kathakars or storytellers.
• The term Kathak is derived from the
Vedic Sanskrit word Katha which means "story",
and Kathakawhich means "he who tells a story”.
• Wandering Kathakas communicatedstories from
the great epics and ancient mythologythrough
dance, songs and music .

7. • Kathakis evolved during the Bhaktimovement, particularlyby
incorporatingthe childhoodand stories of Hindu god Krishna.
• Kathak is found in three distinct forms named after the cities where
the Kathak dance tradition evolved – Jaipur, Banaras and Lucknow.
• The Kathakdance form emphasizes rhythmicfoot movements,
adorned with small bells (Ghungroo),and the movement
harmonized with the music.
• The legs and torso are generallystraightand the story is told
througha developed vocabularybased on the gestures of arms and
upperbody movement, facial expressions, stage movements, bends
and turns.

8. • Kathakali is one of the major forms
of classical Indian dance. It is another
"story play" genre of art, but one
distinguished by the elaborately
colorful make-up, costumes and
facemasks that the traditionally male
actor-dancers wear.
• Kathakali was primarily developed as
a Hindu performance art in Kerela.
KATHAKALI

9. • The fully developed style of Kathakali was originated around
the 17th century, but its roots are in temple and folk arts .
• A Kathakali performance synthesizes music, vocal performers,
choreography, hand and facial gestures together to express
ideas.
• However, Kathakali differs as it also incorporates movements
from ancient Indian martial arts and athletic traditions of
South India.
• The traditional themes of the Kathakali are folk mythologies,
religious legends and spiritual ideas from the Hindu epics and
the Puranas.

10. • Kuchipudi is one of the eight
major Indian classical dances. It was
originated in a village named Krishna
district in the Indian state of Andhra
Pradesh.
• Kuchipudi is a dance-drama
performance art with its roots in the
ancient Hindu Sanskrit text of Natya
Shastra.

11. • It is developed as a religious art linked to travelling poets,
temples and spiritual beliefs.
• The Kuchipudi performance usually begins with an
invocation. Then, each costumed actor is introduced and
who then performs a short dance prelim to music.
• Next, the performance presents pure dance (nritta). This
is followed with expressive part of the performance
(nritya), where rhythmic gestures as a sign language,
mime the play.

12. • Vocalists and musicians accompany the artist, with
the song recited in Telugu language. The typical
musical instruments in Kuchipudi
are mridangam, cymbals, veena, flute and
the tambura.

13. • Odissi , also referred to as Orissi in older
literature is a major ancient Indian
classical dance that was originated in
the Hindu temples of Odisha – an
eastern coastal state of India.
• Odissi was performed predominantly by
women and expressed religious stories
and spiritual ideas, particularly
of Vaishnavism (Vishnu as Jagannath).

14. • Odissi is traditionally a dance-drama genre of performance art,
where the artists and musicians play out a mythical story, a spiritual
message or devotional poem from theHindu texts using symbolic
costumes, body movements, abhinaya (expressions) and mudras
(gestures and sign language) set out in ancient Sanskrit literature.
• It involves lower (footwork), mid (torso) and upper (hand
and head) as three sources of perfecting expression.

15. Manipuri
• Manipuri dance, also known
as Jagoi, is one of the major Indian
classical dance forms named after
the region of its origin – Manipur.
• It is particularly known for its -
Hindu Vaishnavism themes and
exquisite performances of dance
drama of Radha-Krishna.

16. • The Manipuri dance is a team performance with its own
unique costumes, aesthetics and conventions.
• The Manipuri dance drama is marked by a performance
that is graceful with greater emphasis on hand and upper
body gestures. It is accompanied with devotional music
created with many instruments, with the beat set
by cymbals (kartal or manjira) and double-headed drum
(pung or Manipuri mrdanga) of sankirtan.

17. • Mohiniyattam is one of the
two classical dances of India that was
developed and remains popular in the
state of Kerala.
• This dance gets its name from the
word Mohini – a mythical
enchantress avatar of the Hindu
god Vishnu, who helped the good to
prevail over evil by deploying her
feminine powers.

18. • Mohiniyattam's roots are in the Natya Shastra – the
ancient Hindu Sanskrit text on performance arts.
• The Mohiniyattam dance includes music in
the Carnatic style, singing and enacting a play through
the dance, where the recitation may be either by a
separate vocalist or the dancer herself. The song is
typically in Malayalam-Sanskrit hybrid called Manipravala.

19. The different dance forms of Spain and China are as follows:-
1. Flamenco- Spain
2. Folk dance of Dai people- China
3. The Chinese Umbrella Dance
4. Bal Folk- French Folk Dance

20. Flamenco- Spain
Flamenco is a style of entertainment with
song, music and dance. It is very popular
in Spain and is known worldwide. Its
foundation is in Andalusia in Spain. In
its evolution Andalusian Gypsies played
an important part in its evolution.

21. The term 'flamenco' was first recorded in the late 18th
century but many believe the art form is much older.
Flamenco has acoustic guitar music, singing, hand claps,
heel stamps, castanets as its tools. It is danced by a man
and a woman in traditional
Spanish costumes.

22. Chinese Umbrella Dance
• This dance symbolizes celebrations like weddings,
birth , festivals etc. The dancers are normally women,
who are usually about 16-20 years old.

23. • The outfits are normally loose and flowing.
• The umbrella symbolizes honor, wealth and is
traditionally made of paper or cloth. It has painted
patterns on the circular part of it.

24. Folk dance of Dai people
• China has 56 ethnic minorities,
each of which has a culture that
is characterized by a set of
unique folk dances. Each ethnic
group's folk dances reflect the
peculiarities of that group's
religious, cultural and historical
narrative.

25. • The dances – their choreography and their colorful
costumes – naturally reflect this ethnic narrative.
• Many of the dances of ethnic minority groups share
common themes such as rivalry, jealously, love and
forgiveness.

26. Bal Folk- French Folk Dance
• Dancing to folk music has been gaining popularity since
the 1970s. The traditional dances come primarily from the
French tradition, with additions from all parts of Europe.

27. • There are numerous organisations that organize such
dance events monthly and at a lot of folk festivals there
are both concerts and dances.
• In France some villages have their own annual folk
festival.
• In Flanders, Boombal is the biggest organization for the
popularization of bal folk. Their influence is so great that
the term Boombal is more known than the term bal folk.

28. • Dances of bal folk are generally based on simple
traditional choreographies and have an easy base so
everyone can easily start with it. Often, the music has
modern influences. Music is played by live bands. The
audience is on the dance floor, dancing to the live music.
• One or more Folk musicians or Folk music groups play
for dancing. Unlike some other dancing events, it is
unusual to dance with a permanent dance partner. One of
the characteristics of Balfolk is that the participants range
from the very young to the very old.

29. • The dances played during such a session often include:
• The bourrée (Occitan: borrèia; also in
England, borry or bore) is a dance of French origin and
the words and music that accompany it.
• The bourrée originates in Auvergne of France. It is
sometimes called the "French clog dance" or a "branle of
the sabots". First mentioned as a popular dance in 1665
by Clermont-Ferrand, it is danced during bals folk in
France and in other countries. Modern variants termed
bourrées are danced as partner dances, circle
dances, square dances and line dances.