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Indian dance form - manipuri

Guru Singhajit Singh and his wife Charu Sija Mathur have been actively engaged in training advanced students of Manipuri dance in their institution Manipuri Nrityashram. Some of the students have already attained proficiency in the art as teachers, performers and choreographers and have earned appreciation from both the press and the public.
In the incessant effort to keep abreast in creative work within the traditional mode many new Manipuri dance numbers are composed and presented by Guru Singhajit Singh and Charu Mathur as well as the advanced students. Making extensions in the creative horizon they bring out a new ballet in Manipupi dance each year and last year's presentations of "Nupi Lan" (women's struggle) choreographed by Charu Mathur and "Search" choreographed by Guru Singhajit Singh created a new landmark.

Ballet as a Dance Form Some Just Love to Hate

Correction Appended Lewis Segal, a longtime sportswriter for The Los Angeles Times, has written a diatribe against professional football titled “Five Things I Hate About Football.” It deplores a “sport” in which steroid-driven behemoths bash one another about, with no apparent purpose, social relevance, aesthetic pleasure or moral uplift.

Just kidding. Actually, Lewis Segal, a longtime dance critic for The Los Angeles Times, published an article on Sunday titled “Five Things I Hate About Ballet.” Among its sins, he asserted, are that it commandeers a disproportionate amount of dance resources and respect, that it relies on mindless athleticism, that it has lost touch with “the realities of the moment” and wallows in “flatulent nostalgia,” and that it survives because it “has cultivated an intimidation factor that acts like a computer firewall.”

Ballet “ignores the present, but it also falsifies its past,” he went on, since it claims a venerable heritage, but opera is far older, and most ballet classics have been altered beyond recognition. Nineteenth-century story ballets are politically incorrect, he writes. Ballet infantilizes its dancers. Mere prettiness has replaced beauty as an ideal for ballerinas. Dance lovers should focus their psychic energies on the proscenium arch during ballet performances and pray, in the words of George Bernard Shaw, for it to “Fall. Fall and crush.”

Mr. Segal is the first to point out that his view of ballet is colored by its absence on any significant scale in the Los Angeles area. Hence my linkage of ballet with football, since Los Angeles is also without a National Football League team. Had he written 20 years ago, Lewis Segal, a noted music critic for The Los Angeles Times, might have made a similar diatribe about the irrelevance of opera, since Los Angeles did not have a major opera company then, either.

(For the record Mr. Segal succeeded me as Martin Bernheimer’s dance-oriented assistant at The Los Angeles Times when I decamped for New York in 1972, and I have barely seen him in the intervening years.)
Mr. Segal’s low regard for ballet is not new. He made many of the same points in a more closely argued, plausibly toned response to an invitation in 2002 from Ballet Magazine to discuss ballet in the 21st century. (He unleashed a few zingers there too, however, as in his crack about ballet’s being the purview of “dancing snowflakes and jumpers with padded crotches.”) So one explanation for his recent rant — that he was egged into it by a journalistic culture that prizes provocation over reasoned discussion — may not be entirely off the mark. He believes this stuff, but not necessarily always with the mocking, strident tone of the Los Angeles Times article.

Although I disagree with him on almost every count, there is something salutary about his position. There are so many ballet magazines and ballet Web sites out there now that simply assume the superiority of ballet to all other forms of dance that it is nice to have a corrective.

To take just one example, there was Jennifer Homans’s denunciation in The New Republic a few months ago of Downtown Manhattan dance as amateurish and childish, largely, it seemed, because it was not ballet. Ms. Homans might paraphrase her argument somewhat more subtly, and her own extremism could have been encouraged by the journalistic culture of The New Republic. But her disdain for those who profess to be dancers without having submitted themselves to ballet training was palpable.

Mr. Segal’s rant also has historical resonance. When George Balanchine was establishing himself in the United States in the 1930’s, he encountered resistance from those who felt that truly American dance was modern dance in the Fuller-Duncan-Denishawn-Graham tradition, and that ballet was an outmoded European import. Effete too, though the politically correct Mr. Segal does not go there. John Martins, chief dance critic of The New York Times in those years, was one who advanced that argument. Although he later modified his position to embrace Balanchine’s modernism, some balletomanes still disparage him for not immediately recognizing Balanchine’s genius.

Despite the absence of major ballet company in the Los Angeles basin, Mr. Segal has seen a lot of ballet over the decades. He surely knows that ballet is indeed trying to adjust to the modern world, to find new thematic and choreographic relevance without abandoning its technique and traditions, however shallow and distorted in Mr. Segal’s view. He could have made the same arguments about traditional ballet’s failings in a context supportive of contemporary ballet. Perhaps he has been soured by the hackneyed touring programs the big ballet companies take into Los Angeles.

“Does any star these days lobby artistic directors for better choreography or dare to say, ‘I just don’t want to be seen in that ‘Swan Lake’ ”? Well, yes. Carlos Acosta, the Royal Ballet and American Ballet Theater star, is only the latest to call for modernization and for a de-emphasis on 19th century story ballets. Sylvie Guillem has done the same.

Dancers in Europe (as with the Kirov Ballet’s William Forsythe program) and the United States yearn for exciting new choreography, and artistic directors do their best to provide it. Mikhail Baryshnikov stands as a one-man symbol of ballet’s (and dance’s) quest for renewal. When it comes to new work (as opposed to fancily modernized new productions of old work), ballet is far more contemporary than opera. Ballet masters and administrators spend half their time searching for the new. Which is not to say that all new ballet is good ballet, but they try.

Fanatic balletomanes resist such change on the very grounds Mr. Segal uses to chide all of ballet. For them anything but classroom ballet technique degrades the form, and a search for relevance is a descent into gimmickry and perversion.

One last thing Mr. Segal overlooks or denies is that ballet at its not infrequent best can still be beautiful and can still move the receptive soul as deeply as any other art. Even its hoariest traditions give pleasure, as in the delighted faces of audiences young and old at a good account of “The Nutcracker.” Ballet technique can speak to us today, and not just in Balanchine’s stripped-down modernist exercises, now themselves a half-century old.

Maybe if Mr. Segal weren’t the “sun-kissed Hollywood barbarian” that he self-mockingly called himself in 2002, if he had a homegrown ballet company he cared about with dancers whose progress he could trace, he might feel more sanguine about ballet as an art. With the N.F.L.’s blessings, he might even come to love professional football.

Tips

• Small tip for a Dancer....
• A great Dancer should be a great actor who can give the awesome expression on the situation.........

Facial Expressions

Many classical dances include facial expressions as an integral part of the dance form.

These is very precious dances form has this includes the facial expression which are important in the purpose of 'acting'....

Cool Dance move with graphic background

Awesome image with a cool Dance move.... an amazing graphic background........
What a Great combination.

Traditional Indian Dances

Traditional Indian Dances
India is a land of great mix of cultures, with a wide variety of dances that can range from folk to the classical. The Indian dances all vary as per the region it originates from and each have a distinct style from the steps to the kind of costumes worn. Besides, these also represent a particular culture. The steps are based around a strict style that is followed by the people who know them well. Improvisations come in later. The also makes the use of 'Natya' or acting to portray stories, often of folklore and myth.

Kathak:

kathak

Kathak is characterized with fast footwork and numerous 'chakkars' or spins used in the compositions. This originated from the northern part of India. The name is actually a Sanskrit word which means katha - to tell a story. Kathak, like all other traditional dances of India follow the pattern where the guru passes on the knowledge to the student, also known as the 'shishya'. Kathak is also performed in various styles or Gharanas, such as the Lucknow Gharana, Jaipur Gharana, Rajgarh Gharana and the Banaras Gharana. Today, with the popularity of fusion, Kathak is used combined with newly incorporated steps to keep up with modern times, while still remaining traditional.

Kathakali: 

Kathakali

 The main feature about Kathakali is the striking costumes and makeup. This is a form of dance drama that originated in the Southern state of Kerala. The makeup used is one of the most interesting features of this dance. This is an elaborate procedure, which is combined with a large decorative headgear.


Mohiniattam: 

mohiniattam

This has its origins in Kerala. A very graceful dance, the performance in this case are generally solo and mainly performed by women. This includes very rhythmic movements with elaborate mudras. Mudras are hand gestures used to express a particular meaning.


Bharatnatyam:

Bharatnatyam

One of the popular dances in India along with Kathak, is Bharatnatyam, where it originates from a place in the south known as Tamil Nadu. This uses the base of storytelling combined with pure dance movements. The dance is also distinctive due to the particular styles of dressing and makeup. The origins of this dance go back to the Natya Shastra. In the ancient days, this was performed only by the Devdasis. However, in recent times, this dance is not only popular in India, it has traveled across the globe as well.

Odissi: 

odissi

This classical dance has its origins in Orissa, India and can be distinguished from other styles of Indian dance due to the specific movements of the body. Like all other forms, the knowledge is passed on from the teacher to the student (guru to shishya).

Kuchipudi:

kuchipudi

This classical Indian dance has its roots in Andhra Pradesh. Danced on the accompaniment of Carnatic music, this dance is also gaining popularity outside India. The style may be a little similar to Bharatnatyam, however, there are many unique steps that belong purely to this dance.

Manipuri: 

Manipuri

 Manipuri is quite different from other forms of Indian dance in terms of the costume as well as the steps. The dancer uses subtle movements, basically, using many rhythmic movements that qualify as gentle and simple, without pomp. The costume can be distinguished easily due to the stiff cylindrical skirt.

Sattriya: 

Sattriya

 This style originates from Assam. This was the creation of Sankardeva. As per the records, it's observed that only males perform this dance style. Initially, there was a delay in the inclusion of this style of dance as a traditional Indian dance. However, since 2000, it received the recognition by the Sangeet Natak Academy.


Bhangra:

Bhangra:

 A very lively dance, the Bhangra has its origins in Punjab. The energetic movements, particularly of the men, accompanied by the beating of the drums are a sight to behold. The costumes are colorful and add to the liveliness of the atmosphere. Bhangra music and dance is now incorporated even in pop music and has spread to many areas around the world.

Lavani:

Lavani:

 This folk dance is very popular and was first seen during the Peshwa rule. This dance is accompanied by typical music where the lead dancer is accompanied by a group of other dancers in the background. This has its origins in Maharashtra.

Garba: 

Garba:

This is often compared to the social dances that are seen in the West. Garba is danced in a circular format amongst groups and has its origins in Gujarat. Like other Indian dances, this is performed also for religious purposes. Today, Garba also sees influences from Raas - another traditional dance. The dandiya raas is very popular and is performed with sticks.

Dekhni:

Dekhni:

 Dekhni is one of the popular folk dances of Goa. This dance has an interesting combination of Western as well as Indian music, and is always centered around a girl. The theme is based on a girl who wants to cross the river and needs to persuade the boatman to help her cross the same. The other dancers carry small lit clay lamps.


Bollywood Dance: 

Bollywood Dance:

The Indian film industry (Bollywood) is known for its inclusion of the song and dance routine in most of its movies. Form the olden days till date; there has been a massive change in the styles that are presented. The dances in the olden days were subtle and often incorporated folk dances, or western dancing (as seen in Indian black and white films). However, in recent times, women especially have been given a bold look and there is the merging of discotheque sequences and steps that are very typical of Bollywood. The craze for this song and dance routine is such that there are special shows designed for the fans abroad so that they can get a glimpse of their favorite stars dancing to Bollywood tracks.

This was a glimpse of all the types of dance styles that are performed all across the world. It's interesting to note the different variations and styles that dancers use. The talent has grown exponentially in the past couple of years, with even kids taking the limelight. There is no limit when it comes to dancing, since change and improvisation is at its peak, with dance taking a whole new platform in today's world.