styles
Indian Dance
There are several styles of Indian dance, divided between classical, folkloric and contemporary/modern dances (when there is a mixture of Indian music and dance with western styles, such as hip hop, for example). Even with so many styles, being a "visual" dance is a common characteristic among them. Visual in the sense of the costumes, ornaments and gestures that are so different draw attention in themselves.
Indian dances are seen as difficult to learn, as they do not have natural body gestures. It is a new language to learn, a technical and aesthetic system to memorize. But here at Feels Like India we have the right techniques for you to learn in a pleasant and easy way to understand. We work with 2 styles of Indian dance: Bollywood and Bhangra. Learn more about these styles below:
Bollywood
The name Bollywood is a combination of the word "Bombay" (now Mumbai) and the word Hollywood. Mumbai is home to this Indian film industry (Hindi as its main language) which produces over 1000 films a year. In Bollywood films, almost the vast majority, there are musical numbers (both sad songs and happy and dancing songs), the songs are part of the story. It is from these songs played in movies that Bollywood Dance began to be practiced. All songs used in dance classes are from a Bollywood movie
About bollywood dance, unlike classical or folk dances, there is no technique of its own. It is possible to mix classical Indian dances, folkloric dances, western dances, belly dancing... But although it seems that "you can do anything", it is not so. It is important to be aware of the context of the chosen song.
Bhangra
It is a dance and folk music originating in Punjab (a region of India and Pakistan). The bhangra emerged as a way to celebrate the beginning of the Vaisakhi/Baisakhi festival. In this region, one of the biggest sources of income is being a farmer, so the energetic movements of this dance style, such as quick arm movements and jumping, reflect the way people take care of the land. Unlike Bollywood where many song lyrics are romantic, in traditional bhangra the lyrics depict the long and turbulent history of Punjab. Nowadays, bhangra singers also portray current issues (if you compare it, it would be like rappers, who talk about subjects like drugs or difficult situations in their compositions). A characteristic instrument of this style is the Dhol (Indian drum). If you have Dhol beats in the music, you can be sure that it is bhangra or a mixture with bhangra.
