MANIPURI

Special aspects of Manipuri dance :The dancers do not wear ankle bells to accentuate the beats tapped out by the feet , in contrast with other Indian dance forms , and the dancer's feet never strike the ground hard. Movements of the body and feet , and the facial expressions in Manipuri dance are subtle and aim at devotion and grace. The Manipuri dancers dazzle the audience with their colourful costumes, gossamer veils , mirrored skirts and ornaments which create a dream like effect.Intensely devotional in mood Manipuri dances are a part of daly life for the natives.

KATHAK

HISTORY : A conventional Kathak repertoire usually follows a progression in tempo from slow to fast , ending with a dramatic climax.Nritta (pure dance) and Nritya (abhinaya) are the two main features of any classical dance .The kathak dancers frequently performed Nritya on lighter classical music such as dadra , kajri , tappa as well as thumri.This was mainly performed by Tawaifs' in the courts.Such performances in the royal courtsinvolved more of what is known as Nakhra (mischievous playfulness) . With the advent of British raj this was misjudged. The free interchange of ideas beween the court and tawaif dancers thus led to the downfall of kathak during that age.

ODISSI

HISTORY : Getting back to the history of ODISSI , let's analyse the emergence of GOTIPUAS....during the 6th C.E.GOTIPUAS were young boys dressed as girls and were tutored by MAHARIES.The vaishnava cult during these days did not approve of dancing by women.During this period vaishnava poets composed innumerable lyrics in Oriya dedicated to Radha and Krishna.Gotipuas danced to these compositions. They stepped out of the precincts of the temples. Nartaki dance took place in the royal courts , where it was much cultivated before the British period.Devadasies were misused and came under strong attack , and Odissi dance too lost its sheen and glaze in the temples , and became unfashionable at courts.Only the remnants of GOTIPUA SCHOOL remained and the reconstruction of the style required a lot of effort.

KUCHIPUDI

SIDDHENDRA YOGI is remembered as the author of the famous play " BHAMAKALAPAM", about the playful fights between Lord Krishna and his consorts Satyabhama and Rukmini.He developed the most famous part of the Kuchipudi Dacne repertoire ..The Sathyabhama cycle.

Siddhendra Yogi incorporated the principles of Natyashastra (Bible of all Indian classical Dances) into the existing format of the Yakshagana folk dance dramas and gave it a new form.The outcome was a beautiful , distinct and elegant dance form called KUCHIPUDI..! The amalgamation of folk and classical forms has been done with much dexterity.One of the distinctive feature of KUCHIPUDI is the more relaxed flexed knee position , compared to the other classical dance styles of the southern India.The present style has undergone a lot of metamorphosis during the following centuries under the rulership of various kings....