Dance can be participatory, social or performed for anaudience. It can also be ceremonial, competitive orerotic. Dance movements may be without significance in themselves, such as in ballet or European folk dance, or have a gestural vocabulary/symbolic system as in many Asian dances. Dance can embody or express ideas, emotions or tell a story.Dancing has evolved many styles. Breakdancing and Krumping are related to the hip hop culture. African dance is interpretative. Ballet, Ballroom, Waltz, and Tango are classical styles of dance whileSquare Dance and the Electric Slide are forms of step dances
Classical Dances of India
Kathakali literally means story-play and is an elaborate dance depicting the victory of truth over falsehood.
A Striking feature of Kathakali is the use of elaborate make-up and colourful costumes. This is to emphasize that the characters are superbeings from another world, and their make-up is easily recognisable to the trained eye as satvik or godlike, rajasik or heroic, and tamasik or demonic.
A Striking feature of Kathakali is the use of elaborate make-up and colourful costumes. This is to emphasize that the characters are superbeings from another world, and their make-up is easily recognisable to the trained eye as satvik or godlike, rajasik or heroic, and tamasik or demonic.
Bharata Natyam from Tamil Nadu.
The theme of Mohini attam dance is love and devotion to god. Vishnu or Krishna is most often the hero. The spectators can feel His invisible presence when the heroine or her maid details dreams and ambitions through circular movements, delicate footsteps and subtle expressions. Through slow and medium tempos, the dancer is able to find adequate space for improvisations and suggestive bhavas or emotions.
The basic dance steps are the Adavus which are of four kinds: Taganam, Jaganam, Dhaganam and Sammisram. These names are derived from the nomenclature called vaittari.
The Mohini attam dancer maintains realistic make-up and adorns a simple costume, in comparison to costumes of other dances, such as Kathakali. The dancer is attired in a beautiful white with gold border Kasavu saree of Kerala, with the distinctive white jasmin flowers around a French bun at the side of her head.
The theme of Mohini attam dance is love and devotion to god. Vishnu or Krishna is most often the hero. The spectators can feel His invisible presence when the heroine or her maid details dreams and ambitions through circular movements, delicate footsteps and subtle expressions. Through slow and medium tempos, the dancer is able to find adequate space for improvisations and suggestive bhavas or emotions.
The basic dance steps are the Adavus which are of four kinds: Taganam, Jaganam, Dhaganam and Sammisram. These names are derived from the nomenclature called vaittari.
The Mohini attam dancer maintains realistic make-up and adorns a simple costume, in comparison to costumes of other dances, such as Kathakali. The dancer is attired in a beautiful white with gold border Kasavu saree of Kerala, with the distinctive white jasmin flowers around a French bun at the side of her head.
Kuchipudi from Andhra Pradesh
Bharata Natyam dance has been handed down through the centuries by dance teachers (or gurus) called nattuwanars and the temple dancers, called devadasis. In the sacred environment of the temple these familes developed and propagated their heritage. The training traditionally took around seven years under the direction of the nattuwanar who were scholars and persons of great learning. The four great nattuwanars of Tanjore were known as the Tanjore Quartet and were brothers named Chinnaiah, Ponnaiah, Vadivelu and Shivanandam. The Bharata Natyam repertiore as we know it today was constructed by this talented Tanjore Quartet.
Odissi from Orissa
The dance drama that stil exists today and can most closely be associated with the Sanskrit theatrical tradition is Kuchipudi which is also known as Bhagavata Mela Natakam. The actors sing and dance, and the style is a blend of folk and classical. Arguably this is why this technique has greater freedom and fluidity than other dance styles.
Bhagavata mela natakam was always performed as an offering to the temples of either Merratur, Soolamangalam, Oothkadu, Nallur or Theperumanallur. BENEFITS OF DANCE
Do you want to keep healthy and more happy?, You knew that dance is the natural expression of feelings and sensations through of the body, but more than that gives us many benefits such as physical, mental, personal, social, education and even in the politic. Let's see some dance benefits as the most beneficial recreational pastime in these fields:
Physical and mental benefits
- Dancing during an exhaustive half an hour can burn between 5 to 10 calories per minute depending of the type of dance and the intensity.
- The cardiovascular conditioning will be affected by a vigorous dance and how long you dance and how regularly you do it, without doubt help to your health.
- With a right routine of regular dance you enhance the posture and concentration.
- Dancing improves your mobility with side-to-side movements, makes strong bones and prevents the risk of osteoporosis.
- Doctors consider dancing as important part in the rehabilitation from heart or knee surgery.
- The tone muscles will be improved throughout the body with regular dances especially in legs and buttocks zones. Dancing increase strength and stamina.
- Depending of dance rhythm, it helps to reduce tension and stress.
- Dancing enhance your brain activity.
- Dancing exercises improve your fitness and help to weight loss or control.
- Dancing strength the lungs and increase the capacity of their workload.
Personal and social benefits
- Dancing provide a way to share with other people and improve your social life.
- Dancing liberate endorphins that help us to encourage feelings of being-well through natural feel good chemicals.
- Joining a dance class can increase self-confidence, positive outlook and build social abilities.
- Dancing helps to overcome shyness.
- Dancing is an activity for all ages.
Educational benefits
- Dancing can alter positions face to health related subjects as teenage pregnancy, and drug and alcohol abuse.
- During the childhood dancing is a good way to enhance some skills like coordination, balance, strength, discipline, stamina and memory.
- Dancing help to get a cognitive development especially in children when they create a spontaneously movement, then presenting movement ideas and solved with a movement response.
- Dancing intensifies the human experience as a form of education.
- Dancing reinforces the formal learning relates to other academic subjects, especially for children who may not response to traditional modes of teaching.
