DANCES OF INDIA
One can map out India’s complex cultural geography one step at a time — in dance.
India is a land of diversity. Each region has its own culture, where spirituality, tradition and geography intersect. Before the silver screens of Bollywood, dance was the only medium through which this diversity could be preserved and expressed. Each region’s dance reflected the culture and ethos of the people. Take the controlled nature of classical dances harkening back to early forms of worship and storytelling, and compare this with the liveliness of folk dances celebrating the simple joys of one’s livelihood and community. Passed on through generations or rooted in ancient texts, these dances map out the history of a nation that is young, but steeped in thousands of years of tradition.
THE GRACEFUL DANCE OF THE INDIA’S NORTHERN REGION IS KATHAK, WHICH LITERALLY TRANSLATES TO “STORY.”
BHANGRA
Origin: Punjab
In the farming villages of Punjab, the harvest season is welcomed by the pulse of a drum and the vivacious movements of the bhangra. Unlike more poised and intricate dances of worship, the bhangra is a dance of enthusiasm and gaiety. The choreography, usually performed by a team, illustrates the livelihood of the Punjab farmers from the sowing of seeds to the selling of crops. The heartbeat of the bhangra is the dhol,
a double-sided barrel drum played with two cane sticks that give bhangra music its distinct treble and bass sound. To keep up with the pounding rhythm requires an equal measure of speed, symmetry, balance and, above all, stamina. Dress for bhangra is as lighthearted and vibrant as the dance itself. Men wear loose silk shirts (kurtas), a loose loincloth wrapped around their waist ( lungi)
and a brightly colored turban adorned with fanned-out fabric. Women wear an embroidered shirt and loose pants ( salwar kameez) and style their hair in a long braid ornamented with a tassel ( paranda). Today, bhangra has moved from the fields of Punjab to become a fixture at weddings, birthdays and local fairs.
Where to watch: The infectious beat of the bhangra has made its way into the clubs of the United States. Artists like Jay-Z and Missy Elliot have infused the Indian rhythm into their music, inspiring a bhangra/hiphop fusion that is taught and practiced in dance schools all over the world.
KATHAK
Origin: Jaipur, Banaras, Lucknow
The graceful dance of India’s northern region is kathak, which literally translates to “story.” This classical dance style is usually attributed to the traveling bards of ancient North India called kathakers (storytellers) who shared great epics and mythology through dance, song and music.
Like bharatanatyam, the emphasis on intricate hand gestures is essential for narration, but the specialties of kathak lie in its spectacular footwork, amazing spins and padhant. This is an exclusive feature of kathak in which the dancer recites each bol (sound) as the drummer plays the same pattern on the tabla.
The heavy anklets on the dancer’s feet are called ghungroo and can be affixed with 100 to 250 bells per foot. With careful variation in the speed and rhythm, a wide variety of sounds can be produced — a train, a monsoon, or even the sound of a horse galloping.
Today, kathak is often performed as a dance of love. Both male and female dancers must dance with nazakat, a level of delicacy that makes kathak-style dance numbers popular in Bollywood films.
Where to watch: Madhuri Dixit, both an actress and a classically trained kathak dancer, is renowned for her graceful dance sequences in films such as Devdas and
Aaja Nachle.
GHOOMAR
Origin: Rajasthan
For young Rajasthani girls, performing the ghoomar is more than a dance
— it announces their entrance into womanhood. The mesmerizing folk dance of Rajasthan was indigenous to the early tribes of India’s northern state but was adopted in the courts of the royal Rajput kings as a sign of solidarity.
The ghoomar is performed during auspicious occasions including the beginning of monsoon season and upon a bride’s arrival to her new marital home. Rajasthani women don a ghagra
(a long, flowing skirt embellished with mirror-work and beads) and veil their heads with a chunari while pirouetting in and out of a wide circle in a step called the ghoomna. The result is a hypnotic whirlwind of color that continues to entrance global audiences.
Where to watch: The ghoomar earned mainstream attention in 2018 after being featured in the Bollywood historical epic Padmaavat, the story of a legendary Rajput queen. The queen performs a vibrant ghoomar upon arrival to her new husband’s court.
BHARATANATYAM
Origin: Tamil Nadu
Vermilion-dipped fingers, knees bent outwards into a lotus position — bharatanatyam is the most distinctive and widely performed of India’s classical dances.
Tracing back to the southern Hindu temples of Tamil Nadu, a sophisticated vocabulary of sign language was originally developed by devadasi (female servants of the temple) to narrate Indian epics and spiritual ideas of sacred Hindu texts. The intricate hand gestures are called mudras and can be used to depict animals, deities or abstractions like “freedom” or “superiority.”
Geometric and balanced, a bharatanatyam dancer’s movements require a strong center of gravity to stabilize the dynamic jumps, pirouettes and feet-stamping ( padas). Each movement evokes the percussive beats of the Carnatic music.
Perhaps the most recognizable trait of bharatanatyam is the pleated, pajamastyle pants that dramatically expand and compress like an accordion as the dancer tells his or her story.
Where to watch: The Madras Music Academy in Chennai continues to play a pivotal role in the revival of bharatanatyam. The Academy’s dance festivals invite dancers from traditional communities to perform in front of an international audience.
ODISSI
Origin: Odisha (formerly Orissa)
The deities in the Jagannath temples of India are often displayed in fascinating angular positions, and these sculptural postures are embodied in the classical style of Odissi. The distinctive physicality of an Odissi is the emphasis on torso bends that require an immense amount of body control to properly execute.
In ancient times, the Odissi was a devotional act to the gods, especially expressing the spiritual ideals of Lakshmi, the goddess of virtue and prosperity. The sequence of an Odissi performance is broken down into five parts: mangalacharan, a greeting and invocation to the gods; nritta, a footwork-focused dance for Lord Shiva; nritya, an expressive dance communicated through mudras; natya, a dramatic dance based on Hindu epics; and concludes with moksha, a movement meant to express emancipation of the soul.
Where to watch: The psychological
Indian thriller Bhool Bhulaiya features an enchanting Odissi in a scene where the protagonist is possessed by the spirit of a classical dancer.
RAJASTHANI WOMEN DON A GHAGRA (A LONG, FLOWING SKIRT EMBELLISHED WITH MIRROR-WORK AND BEADS) AND VEIL THEIR HEADS WITH A CHUNARI.