Introduction to East Indian Classical Dance

East Indian Classical dances are among the oldest artistic dance expressions in the world. While there are sometimes more categories accepted in the classical forms, eight is the most widely accepted number of basic classical forms of East Indian dance. This introductory dance course will cover the foundations of classical East Indian dance. Other courses in East Indian dance do not typically focus on detail, and form. They usually go directly into choreographed routines. This introductory course to East Indian dance focuses on key details in form and posture that are an essential foundation to all the main East Indian dance styles. These key details are sometimes omitted as part of the introduction to East Indian dance. This course aims to fill that gap by supplying these details in easy-to-follow and thoroughly-explained video lessons.

An examination of the styles of dance in the East Indian genre will assist students in identifying the basics of posture, form and movement. The student will find that this course is an excellent introduction to the discipline of East Indian dance regardless of the specific style of East Indian dance they wish to pursue next. This course will introduce the Bharatnatyam style of East Indian dance in practice but will focus on 'nritta' or the 'pure' dimension of the style alone. Focusing on the purer dimensions of style means that the student will gain the foundations that are common to most of the main classical forms.