Dance and Music

History

Dance and music first emerged as part of festivals and religious worship and of dramatic arts in India.
The oldest archaeological evidence of dance exists in the form of pictures and sculptures dating from
about 2500 B.C. Because of their close links with religion and ritual, dances are mentioned in the Vedas

Both dance and music, collectively known as sangit, became connected with drama. The earliest written
work dealing with all aspects of music and dance was the Natyashastra (Handbook on Dramatic Arts). A
legend says that this text was composed by a wise old man named Bharatamuni. Experts now believe
that the Natyashastra was begun in the A.D. 200's. Many of India's classical dance styles are descended
from styles described in this book. The Brihaddesi, dating from the 700's, records the first references to
ragas. In the Sangitaratnakara, which dates from the 1200's, Indian music was brought into a
comprehensive system.

music of India includes multiple varieties of classical music, folk music, filmi, Indian rock and Indian pop.
India's classical music tradition, the music in india including Hindustani music and Carnatic, has a history
spanning millennia and developed over several areas. Music in India began as an integral part of socio-
religious life.

The dance in india comprises numerous styles of dances, generally classified as classical or folk.[1] As
with other aspects of Indian culture, different forms of dances originated in different parts of India,
developed according to the local traditions and also imbibed elements from other parts of the country.
[2]

Sangeet Natya Academy, the national academy for performing arts in India, recognizes eight traditional
dances as Indian classical dances,[3] while other sources and scholars recognize more.[4][5] These have
roots in the Sanskrit text Natya Shastra,[1] and the religious performance arts of Hinduism.[6][7][8]

Folk dances are numerous in number and style and vary according to the local tradition of the respective
state, ethnic or geographic regions. Contemporary dances include refined and experimental fusions of
classical, folk and Western forms. Dancing traditions of India have influence not only over the dances in
the whole of South Asia, but on the dancing forms of South East Asia as well. Dances in Indian films like
Bollywood Dance for Hindi films, are often noted for freeform expression of dance and hold a significant
presence in popular culture of the Indian subcontinent.
Music in India

Classical Indian Music is a studied art. Until about 1900, it was passed down from teacher to pupil and
was not usually heard much outside the temple or the royal court. But during the 1900's, it has reached
a wide audience both within and outside India. Northern India's music has been much influenced by the
musical tradition of Iran and other neighbouring countries.

Classical Indian music jubelongs to either of the two main, traditional styles. One is Hindustani music,
which developed in northern India and is much influenced by forms from Persia, Arabia, and central
Asia. The other is Karnatak music, which developed as part of the Dravidian culture of southern India

Both these styles make use of the raga or rag, which is one of many different musical scales that form
the melodic framework upon which a piece of music is based. They also use the tala or tal, which is the
rhythmical cycle or recurring pattern of musical beats that the piece uses. Each raga is appropriate to a
particular mood or time of day. Both Hindustani and Karnatak music also use performing groups. Some
groups have a solo vocalist who is either a singer or a reciter. In other groups, the soloist plays an
instrument. The soloist is accompanied by a drummer, who provides rhythmic support. Another
member of the group plays a tamboura to provide a drone, a long-held, unchanging chord, around
which the music is woven. The vocalist or instrumentalist performs the melody. In most cases, the
melody is improvised (made up on the spot) within the restrictions of the raga. If the melody is
performed by a vocalist, there is usually an additional melody provided by the instrumentalist. Indian
musicians provide accompaniment for dances as well as performing alone.

as performing alone.

Hindustani music developed as a distinct tradition after the 1200's, following the first Muslim
settlements in India. It resulted from the influence of Iranian and Arab music upon India's traditional
music. In Hindustani music, there is a greater emphasis upon instrumental music than in Karnatak music.
There is a larger range of musical instruments. The musical form known as gat (a theme with improvised
variations) is purely instrumental. Performances usually begin with an alap, a slow introduction over a
drone but having no rhythm. This introduction is followed by the composition itself where the raga is set
to a tala provided by drums. Hindustani music often has a romantic and relaxed quality. Vocal music in
such styles as dhrupad, khayal, or ghazal use religious texts or love poems.

Karnatak music is the music of southern India. It is rooted in ancient Hindu traditions and was relatively
unaffected by the Muslim influences that partly shaped the music of northern India after the 1100's.
Vocal music is much more prominent in Karnatak music than it is in Hindustani music. The melodies of
instrumental compositions are vocal in character and even use the type of musical decorations that
singers would be expected to perform. Karnatak musical compositions follow a more classical pattern
than those of Hindustani music.
Musical Instruments: The chief, melody instrument in Hindustani music is the sitar, which was
introduced in the 1200's. It is a fretted, stringed instrument that is plucked with the fingers. As the
player plucks the instrument, another set of strings fitted beneath the first set vibrate in sympathy with
the strings being plucked.

Another well-known stringed instrument used for melodies is the sarangi. This instrument is played with
a bow. In modern Indian music, musicians also use the Western violin or the harmonium or organ to
provide the melody. The unfretted strings of a tamboura may provide a drone that lasts throughout the
performance and around which the melody is improvised. The rhythm is usually provided by drums, to
which cymbals, and bells can be added. The best-known rhythm instrument is the tabla, a pair of drums
consisting of a dahina (right-hand drum) and a bahina (left-hand drum). The dahina is a small, high-
pitched drum made of skin stretched over wood and tuned to the basic note of the raga being used. The
behina is a larger drum made from skin stretched over a copper vessel. By using the heel of one hand
the player can change the pitch of the bahina while playing. The tabla is played with the fingers.

The chief wind instrument is the shahnai. This is a reed instrument similar to an oboe.

The most important instruments of Karnatak music are the flute, the violin, and the vina, which is a sitar-
like instrument played alone.

Dance in India

Classical Indian dances are among the most graceful and beautiful in the world. They all make use of a
complicated, visual language, consisting of hand gestures, body movements, and postures. Movements
of the eyes and hands, arms and legs, chest, waist, hip, knee, and foot, either alone or in combination
with each other, all make up this complicated language. Indian dance uses a set

of emotions or feelings known as rasas. The job of the artist is to take in emotions, such as amazement,
anger, hatred, humour, or love, and communicate them to the audience. The creation of a piece of art,
including dance or musical composition, comes out of a deep sense of feeling at one with the universe.
This deep sense of inner harmony combined with discipline of the mind and body makes dance similar
to yoga. (Top)

Classical styles. There are five major styles of classical dance in India: (1) Bharata Natyam, (2) Kathak, (3)
Kathakali, (4) Manipuri, and (5) Orissi. Each of these styles developed in a specific region of India. They
differ in their languages of gesture. But they are all founded on the principles of rasa and they all draw
upon stories and poems that tell about the lives of the Hindu gods. These include gods such as Shiva,
(the god of the dance), Krishna, and many more.

All dances may be used in combination with mime. Some dances are set to music. Others are
accompanied by spoken poetry. The musical accompaniment may consist of a vocalist or singer, a
drummer, and a person playing the cymbals. In most cases, there is also a person playing a stringed
instrument. The dancer uses movement to interpret the sense of the poetry sung by the singer and
communicates the feelings evoked by the music. Dancers are free to make up their own movements.

Bharata Natyam is a style of solo dance (one person dancing) that comes from southern India. It is one
of the most important and probably one of the oldest of the classical styles. Although closely linked with
local traditional dance-drama, it was used mainly in Hindu religious ceremonies. The movements of this
dance style are developed from a basic pose, in which the thighs are turned outward, the knees are
flexed, and the feet are close together and are also turned outward. The feet beat out complex rhythms.
Performances may last for about two hours and follow a set list of procedures.

Kathak is the major dance style of northern India and combines local folk elements with dance forms
that developed in the courts of the Mughal emperors and later Indian princes.

The folk and temple traditions from which the Kathak style has developed consist mostly of Hindu
dance-dramas. Kathak owes much of its present form to developments made in the 1800's at the court
of Nawab Wajid Ali Shah, the ruler of Lucknow. Dancers perform Kathak keeping their bodies straight.
Clever footwork, including highly rhythmical walks, glides, and fast pirouettes (spinning on one foot),
gives the style its vital, dazzling, skilful character. Delicate movements of the eyes, eyebrows, neck, and
shoulders are also used in some dances. Both men and women perform Kathak dances. Many dances
express love or devotion to Krishna.

Kathakali, from the state of Kerala in southwestern India, is a true dance-drama. The Kathakali dancers
act out the parts of different characters in a play. They dress up in outsize costumes to give themselves a
larger-than-life appearance. They also wear masklike face make-up, in colours that have a strong,
symbolic meaning. Kathakali performances are often held outdoors and sometimes go on all night. They
are accompanied by a person who sings or speaks the poetry, while the dancers convey the meaning of
each line with movements and gestures, including finger pointing, sweeping body movements, and
wide, circling arm movements. In former times, male dancers took all the parts in a Kathakali play. But
women now also perform in them.

Manipuri developed in eastern India. The dancer's feet face forward and knees are slightly bent. The
dancer moves his or her chest and waist in opposite directions, making a figure-of-eight shape with the
body. The dancer's arms make graceful, curved movements. His or her fingers trace out delicate circles
and curves in the air. The Manipuri style includes several types of repertoire (range of dances). Five
types, consisting of dancing by whole troupes, as well as dance solos and duets, deal with a story about
Krishna. Another body of dances, the Sankirtanas, involves male dancers performing jumps to the sound
of drums, cymbals, and clapping.
Orissi is a dance form from the state of Orissa, in eastern India. Sculptures found in Orissa, dating from
the 100's B.C., show dancers in distinctive poses characteristic of the Orissi style. The style developed
from musical plays and was common in temples and village entertainments. Orissi dances were first
performed by women. Later, men dressed as women performed them around temples. Now the Orissi
style is a solo dance form, usually performed by a woman. It has many of the same patterns and poses
as Bharata Natyam. But it makes greater use of curves in its body movements and postures. Jumps add
vitality to the Orissi style.

Festivals in India

1. Diwali

Diwali is the most spectacular festival of India, which is celebrated through the varied cultures of the
country with vigor and enthusiasm, irrespective of different religions and societies. Autumn marks the
arrival of this festival and the preparation for the same begins much in advance with people decorating
their houses and exchanging gifts. Also known as the festival of lights, this festival is celebrated by
decorating the houses with lights, clay lamps, and candles.

2. Holi

The arrival of spring in India is marked with the revelers covered in bright colored powder as they
celebrate Holi. Usually falling in March, the festival of Holi brings with it the celebrations where the
merrymakers wish each other Happy Holi by applying ‘gulal’ or colored powder on each other’s cheeks.
Savories, dance, music, and food are the other highlights of this festival.

4. Ramadan/ Eid –Ul-Fitr

One of the major religious festivals of India, Ramadan is celebrated mainly by the Muslim sect of the
Indian demographic. Ramadan is the holiest month of the Islamic calendar and is used as the period for
fasting, prayers, introspection and religious contemplation. The end of Ramadan is celebrated with a
three day festival of Eid-Ul-Fitr, where Muslims break their fasts by gathering together for prayers and
celebration.

Weddings in India

The marriage in India is a sacred ritual in Indian. In India, though many culture of them is now
modernized, there marriage still hold their traditions. There are so many types of weddings in India. We
only took three types of their wedding: (1) parsi wedding,(2) Buddhist wedding and (3) Jain wedding.
1. Parsi wedding

This wedding usually takes a span about a week.it usually takes place in agiary or in a baug. A fire
temple, a holy temple of the Parsis.

In this wedding, the groom stand on stage qhere tje bride's mother perfoem achimichu. A ritual where
the circles raw eggs, rice, coconut, dates and areca nuts and then throws it over the groom's head. Also,
they throws water on groom's sides. As this wedding takes span atleast a week, they have so many
foods, people and etc.

2. Buddhist Weddings

It is the least extravagant type of weddings. It is simple yet elegant, and its very simplicity makes its so
special consisting of some prayers,simple rituals and vows are enough to the two lives together if that is
their intent.

This weddings do not involve a lot of money, jewellery and extravagant and expenses, it also does not
involved elaborate rituals or fixed rules. The marriage done in monastery as the Buddhist temples are
licensed to legalised marriages.

3. Jain weddings

Jain weddings have the typical Indian wedding structure in its rituals. There is a lagan lekhan, a lagna
patrika vachan, and a sagai. For the wedding, there is baraati, phere, granthi bandhan, and there is
kanya daan. The wedding follows ashirvaad and swah graham agaman. All these terms are self-
explanatory because other Indian weddings also have them. This wedding is set apart from the others is
the ritual of Jira Grahe Dhan Arpana.This is a custom where the families of the bride and groom offer
donations to the poor after a prayer at the temple. Many people offer food and clothing to the needy on
special occasions, but it is because they decide to. But a Jain wedding is incomplete without it’s after
wedding rituals and the generosity and philanthropy is a part of the Jain wedding ritual.