Classical Dances of India

In literature, the first references come from the Vedas where dance and music have their roots. A more consistent history of dance can be reconstructed from the epics, the several Puranas, Natakas & Kavyas. Sangeet Natak Akademi recognizes 8 distinctive traditional dances as Indian Classical Dances.

The 3 dance forms of Manipuri in detail

Raas –

Raas lila, the epitome of Manipuri classical dance is inter-woven through the celestial and eternal love of Radha and Krishna as has been described in the Hindu scriptures and reveals the sublime and transcendental love of Krishna and Radha and the Gopis’ devotion to the Lord.
Main characters are Radha, Krishna and the gopis. The theme often depict the pangs of separation of the gopis and Radha from Krishna.
The parengs or pure dance sequences performed in the Rasleela dances follow the specific rhythmic patterns and body movements, which are traditionally handed down.

Sankirtana –

The Kirtan form of congregational singing accompanies the dance which is known as Sankirtana.
The male dancers play the Pung and Kartal while dancing. The masculine aspect of dance – the Choloms is a part of the Sankirtana tradition.
The Pung and Kartal choloms are performed at all social and religious festivals

Thang-Ta –

The martial dancers of Manipur – the Thang-Ta – have their origins in the days when man’s survival depended on his ability to defend himself from wild animals.
Today, Manipur has an evolved and sophisticated repertoire of martial dances, the dancers use swords, spears and shields.
Real fight scenes between the dancers show an extensive training and control of the body.

Mohiniyattam – with Love, from Kerala

Derived from the words Mohini (beautiful women) and Attam (dance).
Mohiniyattam is a solo female dance (in a single costume) – Usually, the theme of the dance is shringara or love.

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The 8 dance forms tagged as Classical in India

The term “classical” (Sanskrit: “Shastriya”) was introduced by Sangeet Natak Akademi to denote the Natya Shastra-based performing art styles.
Classical dance performances usually feature a story about good and evil.
Classical Indian dance is also known as Natya. Natya includes singing and abhinaya (mime acting).

The Natya Shastra, written by Bharata Muni, does not mention the name of any classical dance forms recognised today, but listed the four Pravrittis as Dakshinatya, Audramagadhi, Avanti and Panchali.

Anyone with more info on the 3 sub-types of Manipuri Dance?

We are leaving it up to our most sincere readers to come up with lucid summaries of the 3 sub-types of the Manipuri Dance. Broadly, they are –

Raas – Think Raasleela and costumes
Sankirtana – Think Kirtans and singing in a group
Thang-ta – That’s the martial arts dancing form

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Everything you need to know about the Manipuri Dance

Because of its geographical location, the people of Manipur have been protected from outside influences.

The origin of Manipuri dance can be traced back to ancient times that go beyond recorded history.
There are legendary references to the dances of Shiva and Parvati and other gods and goddesses who created the universe.
Lai Haraoba is one of the main festivals still performed in Manipur which has its roots in the pre-Vaishnavite period.

What is Lai Haraoba?

Lai Haraoba is the earliest form of dance which forms the basis of all stylised dances in Manipur. Literally meaning – the merrymaking of the gods, it is performed as a ceremonial offering of song and dance.

What happened after the arrival of Vaishnavism?

With the arrival of Vaishnavism in the 15th century A.D., new compositions based on episodes from the life of Radha and Krishna were gradually introduced.

Manipuri dance has a large repertoire, however, the most popular forms are the Ras, the Sankirtanaand the Thang-Ta.

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Moving to the North East – The Sattriya Dance

Introduced by the great Vaishnava saint and reformer of Assam, Mahapurusha Sankaradeva. Sattriya Nritya is accompanied by musical compositions called borgeets.

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Kathakali – With love, from Kerala

Kerala is the home of several traditional dance and dance – drama forms, the most notable being Kathakali.

PS: Excuse the typo in the pic. Its Kerala not Kerela! But who can tame our underfed authors! Rate us at the Playstore to keep up the morals, please!

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The most evolved classical dance form – Bharatnatyam (2/2)

There is also a great deal of visual evidence of this dance form in paintings and stone and metal sculptures of ancient times.
On the gopurams of the Chidambaram temple, one can see a series of Bharatnatyam poses, frozen in stone as it were, by the sculptor.

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July 23, 2015

The most evolved classical dance form – Bharatnatyam (1/2)

Bharatnatyam Dance is considered to be over 2000 years old. Several texts beginning with Bharata Muni’s Natya Shastra(200 B.C.E. to 200 C.E.) provide information on this dance form.

The Abhinaya Darpana by Nandikesvara is one of the main sources of textual material, for the study of the technique and grammar of body movement.
In many other temples, the charis and karanas of the dance are represented in sculpture and one can make a study of the dance form.

What are Charis And Karanas?