नृत्य
India's regional classical dance forms and their common root text, the Natyashastra
Indian classical dance is the umbrella name for India's regional classical forms, rooted in the Natyashastra. The list most cited, credited to the Sangeet Natak Akademi, has eight.
The Natyashastra describes 108 karanas, movement units combining hand, foot and body positions. The Brihadisvara temple at Thanjavur, from the early-eleventh-century reign of Rajaraja Chola, shows 81 of them as a dancing Siva.
The Mahari dancers of the Jagannatha temple at Puri are one source of Odissi. Popular accounts link South Indian temple dance to the devadasis, women dedicated to temple deities, though Chola-period inscriptions record them mostly as donors and temple servants. In the early nineteenth century the Thanjavur Quartet, four brothers at the Maratha court, set the order of the recital later called Bharatanatyam.
From 1892 the anti-nautch campaign, opened by the Madras Hindu Social Reform Association, stigmatised these dancers. The Madras Devadasis (Prevention of Dedication) Act followed in 1947.
Kerala Kalamandalam opened in 1930 as a Kathakali school. In Madras, Rukmini Devi Arundale opened Kalakshetra in January 1936. Hereditary artists such as T. Balasaraswati argued for more room for sensuality and regional roots than the Kalakshetra approach allowed, and the two became distinct styles. Sattriya, from the Vaishnava monasteries of Assam, joined the classical list in 2000.
Rasa is the aesthetic experience a performance creates in its audience, and the Natyashastra sets out its theory. Its sixth chapter names eight rasas: shringara (love), hasya (mirth), karuna (pathos), raudra (fury), vira (heroism), bhayanaka (terror), bibhatsa (disgust) and adbhuta (wonder). Later writers added a ninth, shanta (peace).
Each rasa has a matching sthayibhava, a lasting state the performer portrays, such as love for shringara or sorrow for karuna. The text says rasa arises when causes (vibhava), visible effects (anubhava) and passing states (vyabhicaribhava) combine, and it names thirty-three of those passing states. It also names four kinds of abhinaya, or representation: angika (the body), vachika (words and song), aharya (costume and make-up) and sattvika (inner temperament).
In the Natyashastra's own account, the first performance pleased the gods. Many dancers today describe classical dance as both devotion and performance, and fieldwork with young Bharatanatyam dancers shows them weighing the two roles.
Dive deeper into specific aspects of this discipline
भरतनाट्यम
Bharatanatyam is a classical dance of Tamil Nadu, danced to Carnatic music from the bent-knee araimandi stance. Devadasis once performed it as Sadir in temples and at court.
छऊ
Chhau is a martial dance-drama of eastern India in three styles: Seraikella, Purulia and Mayurbhanj. Two use masks. UNESCO inscribed Chhau as Intangible Cultural Heritage in 2010.
कथक
Kathak is the classical dance of North India, named from the Sanskrit katha (story), with rhythmic footwork sounded by ankle bells, fast spins and storytelling.
कथाकली
Kathakali is a classical dance-drama of Kerala in which silent actors in painted makeup enact stories from the epics through hand gestures while two singers sing the text.
कुचिपुड़ी
Kuchipudi is a classical dance-drama and solo dance from Kuchipudi village, Andhra Pradesh, set to Carnatic music and known for the tarangam, danced on a brass plate's rim.
मणिपुरी
Manipuri is a classical dance of Manipur, north-east India, centred on the Ras Lila of Radha and Krishna. Dancers wear no ankle bells, and the women's potloi has a stiff mirrored skirt.
मोहिनीआट्टम
Mohiniyattam (Mohiniattam) is a classical dance of Kerala, named after Mohini, the enchantress form of Vishnu, and known for the continuous circular sway of its lasya style.
ओड़िसी
Odissi grew from the mahari temple dancers of Puri and the boy gotipua dancers and was rebuilt from the late 1950s; its tribhanga pose bends hip, torso and head in turn.
सत्त्रीया
Sattriya is the classical dance of Assam, shaped in Vaishnava monasteries (sattras) from Sankaradeva's devotional plays and recognised by the Sangeet Natak Akademi in 2000.
Discover renowned Dance performers and maestros
Kathak
You can learn Indian classical dance online with KalaSudha, live and one-to-one with a vetted teacher, in regional forms such as Kathak and Odissi. These forms share a root in the Sanskrit Natyashastra, which sets out the theory of rasa, the feeling a performance creates in its audience.
Beginners start at Foundation, and each KalaSudha award names your dance form. When enough learners in an area register interest, we bring workshops and summer camps there. KalaSudha's online academy keeps adding dance courses and teachers.
Have more questions? Contact our support team and we'll be happy to help!
Explore our archive of Dance performances
Debasis Chakroborty · Akram Khan · Alokparna Guha
The BhavanIt seems that you are in
Visit KalaSudhaWe usually reply within a few hours
Loading article…
We could not load this article. Please try again later.
Was this helpful?
Thanks for the feedback
Still need help?
This conversation is resolved — reply to reopen
Topic
Answers come from KalaSudha.com. For anything else, talk to the team.
We email a six-digit code. Enter it here, never in a chat message.
