Dances of One can map out India India’s complex ndia is a land of diversity. Each region has its own culture, where cultural geography spirituality, tradition and geography one step at a time — intersect. Before the silver screens of in dance. Bollywood, dance was the only medium through which this diversity could be by Chanel Samson preserved and expressed. Each region’s dance reflected the culture and ethos of the people. Take the controlled nature of Iclassical dances harkening back to early forms of worship and storytelling, and compare this with the liveliness of folk dances celebrating the simple joys of one’s livelihood and community. Passed on through generations or rooted in ancient texts, these dances map out the history of a nation that is young, but steeped in thousands of years of tradition. Seabourn 20 SEABOURN CRUISE LINE SEABOURN CLUB HERALD 21 The spiraling movements of the ghoomar Today, kathak is often performed as a dance of love. Both male and female dancers must dance with nazakat, a level of delicacy that makes kathak-style dance numbers popular in Bollywood films. Where to watch: Madhuri Dixit, both an actress and a classically trained kathak dancer, is renowned for her graceful dance sequences in films such asDevdas and Aaja Nachle. GHOOMAR Kathak dancer Origin: Rajasthan For young Rajasthani girls, performing the ghoomar is more than a dance — it announces their entrance into BHANGRA kameez) and style their hair in a long braid KATHAK womanhood. The mesmerizing folk dance Origin: Punjab ornamented with a tassel (paranda). Today, Origin: Jaipur, Banaras, Lucknow of Rajasthan was indigenous to the early In the farming villages of Punjab, the bhangra has moved from the fields of Punjab The graceful dance of India’s northern tribes of India’s northern state but was harvest season is welcomed by the pulse of to become a fixture at weddings, birthdays region is kathak, which literally translates to adopted in the courts of the royal Rajput a drum and the vivacious movements of the and local fairs. “story.” This classical dance style is usually kings as a sign of solidarity. bhangra. Unlike more poised and intricate attributed to the traveling bards of ancient The ghoomar is performed during dances of worship, the bhangra is a dance North India called kathakers (storytellers) auspicious occasions including the of enthusiasm and gaiety. The choreography, THE GRACEFUL who shared great epics and mythology beginning of monsoon season and upon usually performed by a team, illustrates DANCE OF THE through dance, song and music. a bride’s arrival to her new marital the livelihood of the Punjab farmers from Like bharatanatyam, the emphasis on home. Rajasthani women don a ghagra the sowing of seeds to the selling of crops. INDIA’S NORTHERN intricate hand gestures is essential for (a long, flowing skirt embellished with The heartbeat of the bhangra is the dhol, REGION IS KATHAK, narration, but the specialties of kathak lie mirror-work and beads) and veil their a double-sided barrel drum played with WHICH LITERALLY in its spectacular footwork, amazing spins heads with a chunari while pirouetting in two cane sticks that give bhangra music its TRANSLATES and padhant. This is an exclusive feature and out of a wide circle in a step called distinct treble and bass sound. To keep up TO “STORY.” of kathak in which the dancer recites each the ghoomna. The result is a hypnotic with the pounding rhythm requires an equal bol (sound) as the drummer plays the whirlwind of color that continues to measure of speed, symmetry, balance and, same pattern on the tabla. entrance global audiences. above all, stamina. Dress for bhangra is as Where to watch: The infectious beat of The heavy anklets on the dancer’s feet Where to watch: The ghoomar earned lighthearted and vibrant as the dance itself. the bhangra has made its way into the clubs are called ghungroo and can be affixed mainstream attention in 2018 after being Men wear loose silk shirts (kurtas), a loose of the United States. Artists like Jay-Z and with 100 to 250 bells per foot. With featured in the Bollywood historical epic loincloth wrapped around their waist (lungi) Missy Elliot have infused the Indian rhythm careful variation in the speed and rhythm, Padmaavat, the story of a legendary and a brightly colored turban adorned into their music, inspiring a bhangra/hip- a wide variety of sounds can be produced Rajput queen. The queen performs a with fanned-out fabric. Women wear an hop fusion that is taught and practiced in — a train, a monsoon, or even the sound vibrant ghoomar upon arrival to her new embroidered shirt and loose pants (salwar dance schools all over the world. of a horse galloping. Images / Alamy Stock Photo PA Images Jon Arnold / AWL husband’s court. 22 SEABOURN CRUISE LINE SEABOURN CLUB HERALD 23 Odissi by a Jagannath temple RAJASTHANI WOMEN DON A GHAGRA Ingram Image (A LONG, FLOWING SKIRT EMBELLISHED WITH MIRROR-WORK AND BEADS) AND VEIL BHARATANATYAM THEIR HEADS WITH Origin: Tamil Nadu A CHUNARI. Vermilion-dipped fingers, knees bent outwards into a lotus position — bharatanatyam is the most distinctive and ODISSI widely performed of India’s classical dances. Origin: Odisha (formerly Orissa) Tracing back to the southern Hindu The deities in the Jagannath temples temples of Tamil Nadu, a sophisticated of India are often displayed in fascinating vocabulary of sign language was angular positions, and these sculptural originally developed by devadasi (female postures are embodied in the classical style servants of the temple) to narrate Indian of Odissi. The distinctive physicality of an epics and spiritual ideas of sacred Hindu Odissi is the emphasis on torso bends that texts. The intricate hand gestures are require an immense amount of body control called mudras and can be used to depict to properly execute. animals, deities or abstractions like In ancient times, the Odissi was a “freedom” or “superiority.” devotional act to the gods, especially Geometric and balanced, a expressing the spiritual ideals of Lakshmi, bharatanatyam dancer’s movements the goddess of virtue and prosperity. The require a strong center of gravity to sequence of an Odissi performance is broken stabilize the dynamic jumps, pirouettes down into five parts:mangalacharan , a and feet-stamping (padas). Each greeting and invocation to the gods; nritta, movement evokes the percussive beats of a footwork-focused dance for Lord Shiva; the Carnatic music. nritya, an expressive dance communicated Perhaps the most recognizable trait of through mudras; natya, a dramatic dance bharatanatyam is the pleated, pajama- based on Hindu epics; and concludes with style pants that dramatically expand and moksha, a movement meant to express compress like an accordion as the dancer emancipation of the soul. tells his or her story. Where to watch: The psychological Where to watch: The Madras Music Indian thriller Bhool Bhulaiya features an Academy in Chennai continues to enchanting Odissi in a scene where the play a pivotal role in the revival of protagonist is possessed by the spirit of a bharatanatyam. The Academy’s dance / Alamy Stock Photo; RF/Seabourn to bottom: Radhakrishnan Valappil Top classical dancer. festivals invite dancers from traditional Bharatanatyam dancer communities to perform in front of an international audience. FEATURE VOYAGE Seabourn Encore calls on Mumbai, Mangalore and Cochin during the 18-DAY JEWELS OF ARABIA AND INDIA sailing Dubai to Singapore, departing on Nov 9th, 2019. 24 SEABOURN CRUISE LINE SEABOURN CLUB HERALD 26.