#Indian dance

[doesephs]

mohiniyattam fire bender

[aahanna]

Indrani Rahman - India's first Miss Universe representative and a celebrated classical dancer."

Indrani Rahman was all of 22 when she represented India at the first ever Miss Universe Pageant way back in 1952.

Indrani Rahman was the first Indian to participate in the Miss Universe pageant in 1952, representing India after winning the Miss India title the same year . She was born in Chennai (then Madras) on September 19, 1930, .She was a trained classical dancer in Bharatanatyam, Kuchipudi, Kathakali and Odissi, and popularized these dance forms in the West . She received the Padma Shri in 1969 and the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award

[blanchebees]

Bharatanatyam poses 2

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[demigod-of-the-agni]

No one but me understands this image and that's okay, to you it's just Miles and Pavitr dancing 😌

(reference image below from this video)

[ramayantika]

The Dancer Immortalized in Stone

Sshh.... Do not be startled, my friend. All of it is real but not terrifying. I am not the alluring spirit who shall lead you to your death. Did you forget that these ruins were once a part of a glorious temple?

Who am I?

I have forgotten my name. It's been a while. Nobody ever reached out to me. I am a stone now, but somehow alive. This stony body is decorated just how I used to decorate my body, warm and full of energy, full of life. I was beautiful, very beautiful when alive. There is a reason I was carved onto the walls of this temple.

Just call me narthaki. What does it mean?

It means a female dancer.

I just know I dance. I danced. I was a dancer. I will always be one.

You wear different clothes now. Do women not wear the clothes like my friends and I have worn in this temple?

No? Oh.

Do you dance? Do you love it?

I loved it too. Wait a moment. Why is that man ogling my body this way? I have never felt the urge to cover myself before. I am set in stone, but I can feel lusty eyes over my chest.

He is tracing his finger over my waist. Make it stop please? I don't like it.

Thanks for getting rid of that touchy man. I encountered some bad men back in my time too. They thought they could own my body, my art, my soul by complimenting my beauty and body. As if I would ever let them taint me.

Ah! You are imitating my dance posture. I remember the sculptor requesting me to model for him, so he could decorate the temple tower housing the Gods.

Stretch your left leg a little. Loosen your fingers as if they are tired. Look to the left sharply. Yes, that's it. See you are standing like me!

I wish I could dance again. What is it to dance now?

I am ethereal? Yes, thanks. The sculptor made me so.

What is dance, you ask? You said you are a dancer yourself. Why should I answer it then?

Fine, if you insist.

For me, dance has been equivalent to living. It is life adorned with music, stories and colourful garbs, each that is changed with time and with the onset of a new tale. As a woman, my dance, my art, is sacred. It is a part of Laasya, of the feminine counterpart of nritya. Fluid, sublime, playful and sensual.

You wistfully smile at the word sensual. Why so?

Oh.

Who says sensuality is bad? I see you rarely move your hips while performing movement.

What? They say it is coquette and the sensuality expressed shall bring lust?

When stories flow through the entire body, through every bone, every muscle, and every nerve; when music fills the blood, surrounds the senses, and you become one with the tale, your body a canvas for the story to be expressed, you must depict it completely with openness, dedication, love and passion. If you contain it, you do not become a true storyteller.

You look from a different time and Time always moves forward. How is that you your lot are so regressive?

What is 'classical'?

Dance is dance. It has been since the days of early men and women, finding movement to express themselves with Time slowly enhancing it, beautifying it. You do not bind it to rules of forced moral standards. You must embrace every story, every character, every music within you.

The later women dancers were forced to sell themselves and cheapen their art? They are now depicted as women who titillate?

No, they were all wrong. Dance can never be impure. It can never serve to only entertain the senses.

What dance do you do? I see my sisters in your eyes, who loved and longed for dance, for the love of art so much. You aren't a part of that dirty spectacle, are you? You know that I speak the truth. You understand my words. You understand us women, don't you.

'I am sorry. I do understand, you, your friends and sisters. So much time has passed and men wrote your history. Your art only served to serve the pleasurable senses, to arouse desire and lust in the audience. This is what they wrote. They don't write about the long arduous hours of practicing and perfecting movement and poetry. They did not write about the penance dancers took. I am sorry. We carry you and your history in us. It is only an essence, but the meaning has changed. There is still hope. There are people who truly understand what dance is, what you, me, us women dancers are and have been. We are your legacy, and I will try to live up to it.'

_XXXX-

Bye, I am hungry, kinda pissed off too because I am tired of seeing female dancers from the past and even now being seen as mere tools of entertainment. I am tired of this constant debate of purity in dance. I also have a test and maybe I was a dancer back in my previous birth or something because I visit old temples only to look at all the dancers immortalized in stone, and I hate how dancers, female dancers have always been pictured for beauty and body, and very less for their art and dedicated practice. Nritya tapasya hai.

Bye.

Tagging: @ramcharantitties @jukti-torko-golpo @alhad-si-simran @krishna-priyatama @inexhaustible-sources-of-magic @houseofbreadpakoda @swayamev @rhysaka @aesthetic-aryavartik

(it's been a while since i have checked my taglist so sorry for not tagging everyone. Will check it and tag you all in my next works. I kinda also want to start a substack lol)

[g0j0s]

being an Indian classical dancer is so beautiful. you’re an actor who enacts and narrates stories with your eyes and limbs.

but you’re also an instrument with your bells that reverberate in the tunes you wish to compose.

you’re a lover and a traitor, a god and a demon. you are stories and places and elements and kings and maids alike.

you live so many lifetimes amidst the taal of a tabla and melodies curated centuries ago to be passed down to your bells on the stage at that time.

[heaven-is-in-your-arms-series]

Khem's golden Phra Law costume reminds me of this iconic gold outfit from Bajirao Mastani.

[printabledesignrf]

Cute Indian dancer clip art

[fdelopera]

I've been reminiscing about one of my teachers lately, Guru Sanchita Bhattacharya. She is a classical Odissi dancer, and she travels the world teaching Odissi dance, and teaching about Indian history and culture.

She came to my old town years ago, and taught a summer masterclass, and I was lucky enough to get a spot in her class (even though I have dyspraxia and two left feet lolsob). She was so patient with me XD

Guru Bhattacharya taught us part of the dance in the first video. And the second video isn't our class, but it looks just like it. We always looked so awkward compared to her! She makes extremely complex and intricate dances look easy. The third video is the same dance that she performed for us in concert, at the end of her summer masterclass.

I will always remember that when we were struggling with a particularly complex sequence in the dance, she would wink at us and say, "Ask Lord Ganesha, the one who removes hurdles!"

She is gorgeous, and so is Odissi dance. This is truly the preservation of tradition and culture against all odds!

[jwitless]

Day or Dawn, what do you prefer?

[blanchebees]

Bharatanatyam poses

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[dogma85]

We are pleased to share our conversation with London based Spanish Contemporary Flamenco and Indian dancer Jose Agudo for the series "Studio Interviews".

[keoshaarts]

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Vinayaka Chavithi 2024 Pushpanjali Baratanatyam Performance at Harivillu Apartments | Keosha | Bharatanatyam Dance Music Arts

Check out this mesmerizing Bharatanatyam group performance of "Pushpanjali" for Vinayaka Chavithi 2024, performed by talented artists at Harivillu Apartments in Manikonda, Hyderabad. Witness the grace, rhythm, and devotion as they offer their tribute to Lord Ganesha through this classical dance form. Don't miss this special celebration filled with cultural beauty and artistic expression!

Keosha | Bharatanatyam Dance Music Arts

#VinayakaChavithi2024 #NrittamPerformance #KidsDance #FestivalCelebration #ManikondaEvents

#Keosha #KeoshaArts #Bharatanatyam #Arts #Dance #Music

#Baratanathyam #ClassicalDance #IndianDance #IndianMusic #IndianClassic

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