Artsie
Contributed By - Nita Mallya
Classical Dance And Its Influence On Bollywood
Bollywood has its own distinct entity and has given rise to a new genre of dance, a style of its own. Bollywood dance is a lively form of dance & music used in Indian films incorporating various dance styles from all over the world. Personally, I enjoy Bollywood movies and dances.
So, what is ‘Dance’? It is a performing art form consisting of purposefully selected sequences of human movement. Natyashastra, the oldest treatise of performing arts, a compendium on Theater, a manual of Dramatic Arts, discusses a wide range of topics, from issues of literary construction to the structure of the stage or mandapa, to a detailed analysis of musical scales and movements, to an analysis of dance forms that considers several categories of body movements and their effect on the viewer. Natyashastra posits that drama originated because of the conflicts that arose in society when the world declined from the Golden age of harmony, and therefore a drama represents a conflict and its resolution.
While Natyashastra primarily deals with stagecraft, it has influenced Indian music, dance, drama, sculpture, painting and literature as well. Thus Natyashastra is considered the foundation of fine arts in India, which contains all forms of art expressions. The text in fact claims there is no knowledge, no craft, no lore, no techniques that is not found in Natyashstra. All art expressions were thus viewed as vehicles of beauty providing entertainment and Indian Cinema has all the components that has been mentioned in Natyashastra. Indian Cinema celebrated its centenary few years ago. Indian Classical dance and silver screen have had a long association with Bollywood. In fact, many of the actors and actresses were trained classical dancers such as Kamala, Ragini, Padmini, Vyjayanthimala Bali, Travancore sisters. The bani or style of Bharathanatyam that I hail from had the great Natuuvanar Ramaiah Pillai direct dances for the silver screen. We have had great gurus, such as Padma Vibhushan awardee Birju Maharaj, choreograph some of the dances for Bollywood. Some of the popular ones are Baji Rao Mastani’s- Mohe Rang do for Deepika Padukone, Devdas’s Kaahe Chhed Mohe - Madhuri Dixit and Kamal Hassan’s Unnai Kanaadhu Naan.
Bollywood dance has gained popularity all over the world and given rise to many dance companies, and is here to stay, Phoenix is no exception.
Rhythm Dance Company is a Bollywood dance and performing arts Company in Gilbert, AZ. Roopa Narayan is the ‘Founder and Artistic Director’ of Rhythm Dance Company. She is an Engineer/IT management professional and Dance is her passion. Roopa’s vision is to expose the richness of Indian culture and heritage through the medium of dance. “UTSAV 2016 – Was a Celebration of Dances” the first, one-of-a kind Bollywood production in Phoenix Arizona. This was hugely successful event that showcased the essence of Roopa and her dancers through spectacular, energetic and pulsating dance performances.
This year on November 4th Phoenix would be witnessing “UTSAV 2017 – Colors of Love” a vibrant and intoxicating Bollywood dance. This is a dance production that will showcase an amalgamation of various Indian classical and cross-cultural dance forms put together with creative stage sets/props and glamorous costumes with over 75 performers ranging in age from 6 years to adults at the Tempe center for the arts.