Art Of Classical

This art is not merely for your pleasure, but exhibits cosmic expression (bhava) for all the worlds. This art has been created following the movements of the world in work and play, profit, peace, laughter, battle and slaughter, yielding the fruit of righteousness to those who follow the moral law, a restraint for the unruly, and a discipline for the followers of the rule; to create wisdom in the ignorant, learning in scholars, afford sport to kings, and endurance to the sorrow-stricken; it is replete with the diverse moods, informed with varying passions of the soul, and linked to the deeds of mankind — the best, the middling and the low — affording excellent counsel pastime and all else."

Bharata along with the apsaras and gandharvas demonstrated Classical Indian dance to Shiva who improved and modified the art as demonstrated by Bharata and instructed the science of dance to Thandu Maharishi. This field of dance derived the name Thandava, the Cosmic Dance of Shiva. Shiva instructed Lasya Natya to Parvathi who passed it on to Usha, the daughter of Banasura. Through Usha this art form was passed on to the Gopis of Dwaraka who in turn passed on the same to the maidens of Sowrashtra.

The Gods and the Goddesses, being dancers themselves, have been passing the art of the heavenly dance through many other human channels, whose aptitude, understanding, and personal idiosyncrasies naturally varied from person to person, and created a number of styles ranging from Odissi to Bharatanatyam. Classical Indian dance of Bharatanatyam has been undergoing a lot of change over the centuries. It used to be and is still mostly performed by women dancers. Centuries ago the Hindu temples in South India had dancers-priestesses called devadasis who would sing, dance Dasi Attam (old version of classical Indian dance), play many musical instruments. They were well-versed in Sanskrit and other languages as they had to adapt compositions to suit the audience. The devadasi tradition gradually degraded. Initially, devadasis lead a very strict and celibate life and were not allowed to have a family. As the dance entered the royal courts, the dancers were called Rajanartakis, who performed in the royal courts and gradually became royal concubines.

Source : classicalindiandancer.com/classical_Indian_dance.html

Twists In Western

Modern western dance is part of this global language and its roots run wide and deep. They can be traced to the taverns of Ireland and to the ballrooms of Europe, to the Czarist palaces of Russia and further back still to the fluid tribal rituals of Africa. Representatives from all of these cultures brought their native dances when they landed in America. Widely differing peoples who had little or no exposure to one another gathered and danced on common ground.

Today's modern country swing dance derives directly from the music Wills played and the way people danced to it.A new musical tempo could be heard after the Second Word War. Be-bop, a kind of wild and dizzying swing offshoot popular in big cities quickly gave birth to “pop” music. Rockabilly arrived in the '50s and by the middle of the decade had become known as Rock 'n' Roll.

Rock 'n roll was music of the '50s, but the dance that accompanied it was very similar to Jitterbug and Swing. The style of dance changed dramatically in the early 1960s when partners were couples only in name and where each allowed his body to dance directly to the sounds, lights and strobes.

Couple dancing regained popularity in the mid 1970s with the emergence of Disco. In the late 1970s, as Disco died and country music rose in popularity, a resurgence of interest in western dance emerged. Older dancers suddenly became models for a new generation.Now that Swing is back, people are dancing into the '90s with a smile, a hat, and a friendly attitude!

Source : aboutdancing.info/Articles/CWhist.html