I am a passionate Indian classical dancer. My journey for learning dance started when I was only seven years old. I started learning dance as a hobby but as years passed my hobby turned into my passion for dancing. Now I am a trained Kathak dancer (Jaipur Gharana).

Dance gives me an immense pleasure. During this time of pandemic when most of the people are stressful, anxious, depressed and uncertain about future, I think dancing acts like a stress buster. Whenever I feel low and stressful, I start practising Kathak. It acts like a meditation for me with so much positive effect on body and mind. I feel so much energetic, happy, relaxed and confident. Being a passionate dancer, I was always curious to know about the origin of dance. If we think about the origin of dance and look into ancient time, we find that archaeological evidence for early dance are found in Egypt and India. 3300 BC Egyptian tomb paintings depicted dancing figures. In India, more than 9000 years old rock paintings at Bhimbetka rock shelters in Madhya Pradesh also depicted dancing figures. Bhimbetka caves are also UNESCO World Heritage Site. Recently I got a chance to visit Bhimbetka caves. I was amazed to see the dancing figures in these Palaeolithic and Neolithic caves which is a clear evidence of the passion for dance in ancient human beings. 

  

Many contemporary dance forms can be traced back to historical, traditional, ceremonial and ethnic dance.Dance is a form of performing art which consists of purposefully selected sequences of human movements in a rhythmic way usually to music and within a given space. The purpose of dance could be anything like expressing an emotion or an idea, releasing energy or simply taking delight in that movement itself.  According to Joh Weaver (1721), “dancing is an elegant and regular movement harmoniously composed of beautiful attitudes and contrasted graceful posture of the body and parts thereof.”

Broadly dance can be divided into two categories- “theatrical dance” and “participatory dance” although these two categories are not always completely separated.

Theatrical dance is also called a concert or performance dance. It is often performed upon a stage by virtuous dancers. It often tells a story using mime, scenery, and costume. Sometimes it may simply interpret specially composed musical accompaniment. Classical dance, modern dance, Western Ballet, Chinese and Japanese song and dance dramas are some examples of theatrical dance.

Participatory dance is commonly undertaken for a common purpose, such as exercise or social interaction of participants rather than onlookers. Some of its examples are folk dance, a social dance, a group dance such as circle, chain or line dance, partner dance such as western ballroom dance etc.

Dance was always an important part of the oral and performance methods of passing stories down from one generation to next even before the invention of written language.

We can conclude that for many thousands of years across nations, culture and people dancing has been an integral part of human life as we shall discover in my next blogs.

Till then let’s dance and celebrate life.

Aneesha.