A moment when I was thinking to write my second blog.. Suddenly a thought came into my mind and that was why can’t I write few important information about the top dances in India in my blog? and it made me to also think it will be a good job if I write it since many of the people will not be knowing about the different types of dances ,irrespective of their states!...So I finally decided to write about the Dances of India..
Dances of India-
Firstly the dances of India have their origin in the temples of India from as far back as 4000 B.C. There are large numbers of dances in India; each one is famous in different regions or parts of the country. These dances are the good indication of the cultural richness and the cultural diversity of India. And even today the same respect and priority is given to the cultural dances in India. The following details are the information about several top dances in India...
The different dances which have top priority are:
Bharatanatyam: - this is a solo dance and has its origin from the temples of South India from around 4000 B.C. It has its origins from the “Natya Shastra” written by the sage Bharata. This dance was performed as “Dasiattam” by temple’s Devadasis. It is also known as Indian National Dance. This dance is always accompanied with Classical music which are deeply grounded into “Bhakti”. This dance is also called as “Fire Dance” since the dance performed will resemble the movements of the dancing flame. Some of the great people who admitted their contribution to the Bharatanatyam are Smt. Rukamani Devi, Poniah Pillai, and T.Bala Saraswathi.
This dance has various style of its own like dancing on the plate. It is performed by showing the fantastic expressions and its all about balancing. The performer is supposed to give different postures while dancing. Each posture describes the words in the song (classical music) sang while dancing. Perhaps even in the present the “Bharatanatyam” has its own importance among the dances.
Odissi: - this dance is originated from the state called Orissa in India (eastern part) during second century B.C. This dance is also origins from “Natya Shastra” like Bharatnatyam. This was existed in three different schools namely Mahari, Narthaki and Gotipua. Gotipua was originated later since the vaishnavas did not agree the dancing by women hence this style of dance was performed by the young boys. This dance is performed based on several aspects like mantras, slokas etc. The eminent personalities in this dance are Smt. Samyukta Panigrahi and Kelucha Mahapatra.
Manipuri: - it is a ritualistic dance form that has its origins from the North-east India. This dance is mainly based on the “Raslila”. It draws it theme from legends and mythology. The specialty of this dance is the dancers won’t wear the ankle bells since they want to accentuate the beat tapped by the feet. This dance is also called as “Pung Cholam”.
Kuchipudi: - It is a solo dance drama form from Andhra Pradesh. It is performed by men attired as women. It is similar to Bharatnatyam in many ways since it is also derived from “Natya Shastra”. The movements in this dance are quicksilver and scintillating, rounded and fleet-footed.
Kathakali: - This dance has its origin from pre cursor drama called “Ramanattam” and owes it share of techniques also to “Krishnanattam. This dance dealt with presentation of stories of Hindu Gods Rama and Krishna.
The name of Kathakali was derived from Malayalam words katha (story) and kali (play).The language of the songs used for Kathakali is Manipravalam.
This dance performance is usually conducted at night and ends in early morning in front of the huge Kalivilakku (dance-lamp) with its thick wick sunk till the neck in coconut oil.
The above information was referred by some of the text books and internet. Perhaps these dances are the one who is holding the top priority in India. There are also other dances which have the great importance in specified regions in states of India like “Yakshagana” which is mainly played in Karnataka and “Dandiya Raas” in Rajasthan etc…and in beyond it is that most of the dances are performed based on epics of India. These dances also make people who are illiterate to realize about the epics of the country easily since they cannot read or write and also plays as a good entertainer for everyone.
So even though the dance have their own prominence, when compared to older days one point come to the view that they are losing the importance due to the advancement like firstly the TV was invaded then films are being produced and that provides different types which could entertain accordingly to the taste or choice of the people and attracts the most people towards it than the dances. From this, most of the time the stage performances are losing the spectators.
Hence one has to think that our culture has to be shown up by giving the equal importance to it and save our ancient form and make the country rich in all the fields.
