About the Bollywood dances

Bollywood dance was born with Indian cinema and is the direct descendent of classical and popular Indian dances. Before the advent of cinema, several forms of dance had served the function of ‘telling stories’ over the centuries in India. Within India’s history, we find the practice of ‘danced mime’ in diverse forms: the Nautch dancers who performed in the palace courts; the itinerant troupes of artists that passed from village to village telling the stories of the gods. Bollywood is joyful, rhythmic and full of the grace that characterises Indian dances – it is the popular dance that gives rhythm to the lives of millions of Indians.

In these classes we work on dances from the ‘vintage’ repertoire – from the first films – as well as more modern and contemporary choreographies. We also concentrate on some of the basic foundations of the classical dances Kathak and Odissi (position of the body, mudras..), in addition to the rasas or expression of emotions. Warm ups include yoga and stretching.

 Dances of all Orient

Like a trip, this course is based on dances from traditional and popular repertoires from several countries. They have in common that they are the expression of popular cultures rooted in the rich traditions that abound in the Orient and the Orient. The focus will be on Turkey, India and Afghanistan as well as influences from North African dance and Persian culture. The dances will be studied, on the one hand, according to their traditional aspects and on the other hand, by exploring their similarities in order to create choreographic links and open up possibilities of interpretation.