Jazz - Western Dance

Jazz

Jazz dance is a classification shared by a broad range of dance styles. Before the 1950s, jazz dance referred to dance styles that originated from African American vernacular dance. In the 1950s, a new genre of jazz dance—modern jazz dance—emerged, with roots in Caribbean traditional dance. Every individual style of jazz dance has roots traceable to one of these two distinct origins.

Traditional

Until the mid 1950s, jazz dance referred to the dance styles that originated from the African American vernacular dance of the late 1800s to mid-1900s. Jazz dance often referred to tap dance because tap dancing, set to jazz music, was one of the predominant dances of the era. Jazz dance evolved over time to spawn a diverse range of social and concert dance styles. During the later jazz age, popular forms of jazz dance included the Cakewalk, Black Bottom, Charleston, Jitterbug, Boogie Woogie, swing and the related Lindy Hop. Today, many of these dance styles are still popular and continue to be practiced and taught.

Modern

After the 1950s, pioneers such as Katherine Dunham took the essence of Caribbean traditional dance and made it into a performing art. With the growing domination of other forms of entertainment music, jazz dance evolved on Broadway into the new, smooth style that is taught today and known as modern jazz, while tap dance branched off to follow its own, separate evolutionary path. The performance style of jazz dance was popularized to a large extent by Bob Fosse's work, which is exemplified by Broadway shows such as Chicago, Cabaret, Damn Yankees, and The Pajama Game. Modern jazz dance continues to be an essential element of musical theatre, and it can often be seen in music videos and competitive dance.

At IDDA, students are encouraged to learn different styles of Western traditional and contemporary choreography to enable them to experience greater flexibility and strength. The course will be facilitated by Manish Gohil and troupe.

Ila Dalal Dance Academy

Into the Soul of Nritya...

The Ila Dalal Dance Academy is dedicated toward creating greater awareness and popularity toward classical Indian Dances and encouraging individuals to make dance an integral part of their lifestyle. In addition to certificate courses and in-depth training in Indian Dances like Kathak, Bharatnatyam, Manipuri, Odissi and Indian folk dances, IDDA also offers courses in Western styles such as Latin Ballroom Dancing, Jazz, Contemporary Western and Modern Dance.

Dance is a physical and visual art form, which has an immediate and massive impact on the spectator. The various Indian forms act like a window to India's rich cultural reservoir. Dance is the form of art, where the body is used as a medium of communication. Indian dances have played an influential role in many other realms of art including poetry, sculpture, architecture, literature, music and theater all over the world.

The earliest archaeological evidence of Indian dance, which dates back to 6000 BC, depicts a beautiful statuette of a dancing girl. Bharata's Natya Shastra (which was written between the 2nd century B.C. and 2nd century A.D) is the earliest available thesis on dramaturgy. All forms of Indian classical dances owe allegiance to Natya Shastra, which is believed to be the 'fifth Veda' of the Indian culture.

According to a popular belief, Brahma, the Creator of the World, combined literature from the Rig Veda, songs from the Sama Veda, abhinaya (expression) from the Yajur Veda and rasa (aesthetic experience) from the Atharva Veda, to form natya (what we today call dance). It explains the nuances of dance, giving stress on mudras (hand formations) and their meanings, the kind of emotions and their categorization.

Apart from the abhinaya and the performance of rasa, the audience is amused by the attire and ornaments of the artist. The majority of Indian classical dance forms are focused on the depiction of the nine rasas (Navarasas or the emotions), which includes Hasya (happiness), Krodha (anger), Bhibasta (disgust), Bhaya (fear), Shoka (sorrow), Viram (courage), Karuna (compassion), Adbhuta (wonder) and Shanta (serenity).

The Indian classical dance forms are dominated by the basic elements of a performance, including abhinaya and rasa. Abhinaya is an inevitable part of the dance, since it conveys the true meaning of the performance. On the other hand, the use of rasa varies from one performance to another. The use of a particular rasa is dependent on the situation or the story of the dance performance. Go through the following lines and check out more information on the basic elements of Indian dance - abhinaya and rasa.