Classical Bollywood
Bollywood is known for its rhythmic and upbeat music and colourful dances. India School goes back to the roots of Bollywood dancing that uses influences from the Kathak and Bharatanatyam styles to more modern music. Our classical Bollywood classes dedicate 30 minutes to teaching the basics of Indian classical dance, such as the fast spins characteristic of Kathak and the ancient hand motions (hastas or mudras) used in both Bharatanatyam and Kathak. This ensures the dancer establishes a foundation for the proper movement, grace, stamina, and technicality seen in Indian classical dancing. We then teach a dance choreographed to a popular song from a Bollywood movie that has a classical-style or rhythm. This class is less strict than the Indian classical classes offered at the India School and welcomes anyone wanting to learn Indian classical dance with a more contemporary flourish!
Students can begin learning from ages 4 or 5, and there is no upper limit on age to enroll! Feel free to email the school if you are interested and we will try our best to accommodate your schedule for our Sunday classical Bollywood classes.
Please view our album/video page for clips from past Bollywood performances.
History
Bollywood is appreciated for its colourful dances and music items in movies. However, not many recognize that the choreography in these movie numbers were at first based on Indian classical dance forms, such as Kathak, and that these traditional forms are being used more frequently in the present-day films. Originating from Northern India, Kathak is characterized by its intricate facial expressions and hand gestures, rapid chakkars (spins), and powerful yet complex footwork, accented by hundreds of ghungroo (bells). Movies such as Bajirao Mastani (2015), Devdas (2002), and Kalank (2019) have gone back to these roots. Renowned Kathak guru Pandit Birju Maharaj choreographed uplifting and fast-paced segments based
Teachers
Current
Shavira Narrandes
Part-time
Brittany Young Tenn
Quiana Kumar
