Bollywood dance is the dance-form used in the Indian films. It is a mixture of numerous styles. These styles include belly-dancing, kathak, Indian folk, Western popular, and "modern", jazz, and even Western erotic dancing. In this web page, we will look at Bollywood dance and place it within the commercial and artistic framework of the South Asian film world.
What Is Bollywood Dance?
Bollywood dance is a difficult topic to discuss because it is hard to pin down. Its exact definition, geographical distribution, and stylistic characteristics are amorphous. However in spite of all of this, it is surprisingly recognisable.
Let us begin by discussing the term "Bollywood". In the strict sense the term "Bollywood" refers to the Hindi culture, art, and film industry from Bombay. The other film centres of South Asia are often referred to by their own designations (e.g., Lollywood (Lahore), Tollywood (Andhra Pradesh)). However since the Bombay Hindi film industry dwarfs the other productions centres, the term "Bollywood" is generally extended to mean the entire South Asian film culture. For the purpose of this web-page, we will use the more general meaning.
The international appeal of Bollywood dancing is something that has been many decades in the making. Originally it was found only in places that had a significant consumption of Indian films (i.e., Former Soviet Union, and the Middle East). But a few years ago it started to become chic in Europe, and today it is rising in popularity in the US, and Canada. Today, dance schools that teach this style may be found in most major cities.
The steps and hand gestures should be executed precisely since they have specific meanings.
Traditional Indian dances are divided in eight groups (classes).
Odissi
Odissi is probably the oldest of the classical Indian dances. Its name means “of Orissa” referring to to dance’s region of origin in eastern India. It was performed by the “temple girls”, (devadasi) at first, but later was danced in court to entertain royal families and their guests.
Odissi stands out because of its two typical postures.The first one is the chouka, which is a square-like posture.
Tribhangi is the signature movement of Odissi, It divides the body into three parts- the head, the bust and the torso. The concept of tribhangi lies in the independent movements of these three parts in opposing directions.
Another important element in Odissi is “mudra”. It means stamp and refers to hand positions which depict different things.
The most popular theme for Odissi is praising Krishna, who was believed to be the most perfect earthly incarnation of God Vishnu.
Odissi dancers dress in the traditional colors of Orissa - sarees in bright red, green, orange, purple and yellow. They are wrapped around the body in a unique way which distinguishes them from traditional clothing from other regions.