DANCE OF INDIA

Indian classical dance is a relatively new umbrella term for various codified art forms rooted in Natya, the sacred Hindu musical theatre styles, whose theory can be traced back to the Natya Shastra of Bharata Muni (400 BC).
These are:

Dances performed inside the sanctum of the temple according to the rituals were called Agama Nartanam. Natya Shastra classifies this type of dance form as margi, or the soul-liberating dance, unlike the desi (purely entertaining) forms.
Dances performed in royal courts to the accompaniment of classical music were called Carnatakam. This was an intellectual art form.
Darbari Aattam form of dance appealed more to the commoners and it educated them about their religion, culture and social life. These dances were performed outside the temple precincts in the courtyards. Both Carnatakam and Darbari Aattam in particular were predominantly desi forms.

Hema Malini

Hema Malini (Hindi: हेमा मालिनी Tamil: ஹேமமாலினி) (born October 16, 1948) is an Indian actress, director and producer, as well as a Bharatanatyam dancer-choreographer. Making her acting debut in Sapno Ka Saudagar (1968), she went on to appear in numerous successful Bollywood films, most notably those with actor and future-husband Dharmendra.[1] She was initially promoted as "Dream Girl", and in 1977 starred in a film of the same name.[2] During this period, she established herself as one of Hindi cinema's leading actresses, noted for both her comic and dramatic roles, and her accomplished classical dancing.[3]

Malini is one of the most successful female filmstars in the history of Indian cinema.[3][4] Appearing in over 150 films in a career span of 40 years, she has starred in a large number of hit films, and her performances in both commercial and arthouse cinema, were often recognised.[3]

Yamini Krishnamurthy

Born in the year 1940 to a Telugu family at Chidambaram in Tamilnadu, Yamini Krishnamurthy is an eminent Bharatnatyam dancer, who has swayed the entire country with her fabulous dance performance. She is also well known for her Kuchipudi dance style. When she was five years old, she started learning Bharatnatyam dance from the Kalashetra School of Dance in Chennai. She took training under the guidance of Rukmini Devi Arundale. Well, in this article, we will present you with the biography of Bharatnatyam dancer Yamini Krishnamurthy.

After completing her basic learning at Kalashetra, she took further training from renowned exponents such as Thanjavur Kittapa Pillai, Dhandayudhpani Pillai, Kanchipuram Ellapa Pillai, and Mylapore Gouri Amma. She went on stage for the first time in the year 1957 in Chennai. She won the hearts of people with her charisma and heart throbbing performance. Read on to know the complete life history of Yamini Krishnamurthy…

By the year 1960, she had set up her foothold in this industry and earned a name for herself. Her name appeared in the list of leading dancers of India and she has strived hard to maintain that position till date. She has been giving wonderful performances for the past four decades. She also has made an immense contribution in popularizing the Kuchipudi dance. Her dance performances brought international recognition to classical folk dances of India.

Birju Maharaj Profile

Pandit Birju Maharaj is a legendary Kathak dancer. He belongs an illustrious family of dance masters of the Lucknow gharana. His two uncles Shambu and Lacchu Maharaj, and his father Acchan Maharaj were all well-known Kathak dancers. Apart from Kathak, Pandit Birju Maharaj is also an accomplished vocalist.

Pandit Birju Maharaj alias Brij Mohan Nath Mishra was born on February 4, 1937. He took training in Kathak under the guidance of his father, Achchan Maharaj and uncles Lacchu Maharaj and Shambhu Maharaj. Birju Maharaj gave his first performance at the young age of seven at Lucknow and after that there was no looking back.

Birju Maharaj is a multi-faceted personality. Besides his mastery over Kathak, he is also a superb musician, percussionist, composer, teacher, director, choreographer and a poet. Birju Maharaj has composed many dance dramas like 'Gobardhan Leela', 'Makhan Chori', 'Malti-Madhav', 'Kumar Sambhav', and 'Phag Bahar'. Birju Maharaj has also dabbled in films. He composed two classical dance sequence for Satyajit Ray's film 'Shatranj Ke Khiladi' and choreographed a song for Sanjay Leela Bhansal's film 'Devdas'.

Birju Maharaj is a recipient of several honors and awards. These include: Sangeet Natak Academy Award, Padma Vibhushan, Kalidas Samman, Soviet Land Nehru Award, SNA Award, Sangam Kala Award etc. He was also conferred with two honorary doctorate degrees and the Nehru Fellowship.

Birju Maharaj taught at Sangeet Bharati, Bharatiya Kala Kendra and headed the teaching faculty Kathak Kendra in Delhi till his retirement in 1998.

Padma Subramanyam

A rare combination of a flawless dancer, choreographer, music composer, singer, research scholar, teacher and author, Dr. Padma Subramanyam is one of the most respected and reputed Bharatanatyam dancers of India. She was born on 4th February, 1943 in Chennai. Her father was K. Subramanyam who was a famous director and also a freedom fighter. Her mother was Meenakshi was a lyricist in Sanskrit and Tamil, dancer, choreographer and a flawless instrumentalist who mastered the Violin, Veena and Harmonium. Given here is a short biography of Padma Subramaniam that covers her life history.

She is currently the director of "Nrutyodaya", which is a dance school that was founded by her father in the year 1942. She started to learn dance at Nrutyodaya under the guidance of a teacher named Kausalya. She was also trained later on by Guru Vazhuvoor Ramaiah Pillai. Her first public performance known as "Arangetram" was in the year 1956. After that, she gave innumerable performances in concerts all over the world. She also continued her education side by side.

Padma Subramanyam never let her studies suffer because of her performances and busy schedule. She has got a Bachelor's degree in Music, Master's in Ethno Musicology and Ph.D in dance from Annamalai University. She has been a research scholar and has written a thesis on "Karanas in Indian dance and sculpture". She laid emphasis on the fact that the 108 Karanas or units of dance are not just poses but movements. She has also designed the sculptures of the Karanas of Lord Shiva with his consort Parvati that are kept in the Nataraja Temple at Satara, located in Maharashtra. She has composed music for most of compositions and has also released a couple of albums.

Padma Subramanyam was the first dancer to introduce "Pushpanjali" as a dance piece. She has written many articles that have been compiled as "Legacy of a Legend". She has also composed a Bengali Varanam, the first of its kind whose lyrics have been penned by Salil Chaudhry. Padma Subramanyam enchants spectators with perfect movements and hand gestures and emotes beautifully with her face. This versatile dancer has received many awards and honors that are listed below.

Mallika Sarabhai

She is a well known Kuchipudi and Bharatanatyam dancer of India. She is the daughter of renowned artists. Her mother is a great dancer and father is a famous scientist. Well, we are talking about the celebrated dancer Mallika Sarabhai. In this article, we will present you with the biography of Mallika Sarabhai.

The holder of MBA and doctorate degree from IIM Ahmedabad, she is a multitalented personality. She is truly an all rounder. She has proved her worth in all the streams, then be it editing, anchoring, film making, dancing, acting etc. Mallika started learning dance at a very young age. To know the complete life history of Mallika Sarabhai, read on…

She began her career, when she was only fifteen years old. She took up the acting assignment to play the role of Draupadi in Peter Brook's film "The Mahabharata". Apart from being a professional dancer, she is also a social activist. During the 2002 riots of Gujarat, she raised her voice and spoke against the role played by the Narendra Modi government. She is an epitome of boldness and courage.

She, along with her mother, administers the functioning of the Darpana Academy of Performing Arts, which is located at Ahmedabad. Her works have been well acclaimed. She has received many accolades throughout her career. In the year 1977, she was honored with the "French Palme D'or", which is the highest civilian award of the Government of France. Later in Paris, she received the 'Best Soloist Artist' for best dance performance.

JENNIFER LOPEZ

Jennifer Lynn Lopez (born July 24, 1969), often nicknamed J.Lo, is an American actress, singer, record producer, dancer, fashion designer and television producer. She is the richest person of Latin American descent in Hollywood according to Forbes, and the most influentialHispanic entertainer in the U.S. according to People en Español's list of "100 Most Influential Hispanics".
Lopez began her career as a dancer on the television comedy program In Living Color. Lopez subsequently ventured into acting, appearing in numerous successful films including The Cell (2000), The Wedding Planner (2001), Maid in Manhattan (2002), Shall We Dance? (2004) andMonster-in-Law (2005). She has won ALMA Awards for outstanding actress for her work in Selena (1997), Out of Sight (1998) and Angel Eyes(2001). She parlayed her media fame into a fashion line and various perfumes with her celebrity endorsement.
In 1999, Lopez released her debut studio album, On the 6. She followed it up with two number one albums on the Billboard 200, J.Lo (2001) and J to tha L-O!: The Remixes (2002). Her third studio album, This Is Me... Then (2002) peaked at number two on the Billboard 200 as well as her fourth studio album, Rebirth (2005). In 2007, Lopez released two albums including her first full Spanish-language album, Como Ama una Mujer and her fifth English studio album Brave. She won the 2003 American Music Award for Favorite Pop/Rock Female Artist and the 2007American Music Award for Favorite Latin Artist. She has sold over 48 million albums worldwide

BREAK DANCE

It is lively, energetic, acrobatic, dynamic performance dance. Since its debut to public, breakdance becoming more and more popular. Break dance was extraordinary and still is in its own way, today from any continent, any country you will find a hardcore aficionado.
Breakdancing provide a youth people productive alternative to aggressive urban street bands. Today, breakdancing culture is an extraordinary discipline somewhere in-between those of dancers and athletes. Since acceptance and involvement centers on dance skills, breakdancing culture is generally free of the common race, gender and age boundaries of a subculture and has been established worldwide.

SHAKIRA

Shakira Isabel Mebarak Ripoll (born February 2, 1977), known professionally as Shakira (pronounced /ʃəˈkɪərə/, Spanish: [tʃaˈkiɾa] or [ʃaˈkiɾa],‭ Portuguese: [ʃaˈkiɾə]; Arabic: شكيرة‎ ), is a Colombian singer-songwriter, musician, record producer, dancer and philanthropist who emerged as a musical prodigy in the music scene of Latin America in the early 1990s. Born and raised in Barranquilla, Colombia, Shakira revealed many of her talents in school as a live performer, demonstrating her vocal ability with rock and roll, Latin and Middle Eastern influences with her own original twist on belly dancing. Shakira is a native Spanish speaker and also speaks fluent English, Portuguese and Italian.
After commercial flops with local producers on her first two albums, and little-known outside Colombia, Shakira decided to produce her own brand of music. In 1995 she released Pies Descalzos, which brought her great fame in Latin America and Spain, and her 1998 album ¿Dónde Están los Ladrones? was a critical success. Since then she has gained many fans in non-Spanish-speaking countries, especially in the United States. In 2001, and aided by heavy promotion of the music video, "Whenever, Wherever", she broke through into the English-speaking world with the release of Laundry Service, which sold over thirteen million copies worldwide. Four years later, Shakira released two album projects called Fijación Oral Vol. 1 and Oral Fixation Vol. 2. Both reinforced her success, particularly with the most successful song in the twenty-first century to date, "Hips Don't Lie". Currently, Shakira is working on final touches of her upcoming album She Wolf, that will be released in October of 2009
She has won two Grammy Awards, seven Latin Grammy Awards, and has been Golden Globe-nominated. She is also the highest-selling Colombian artist of all time,and the second most successful female Latin singer having sold over 50 million albums worldwide, according to BMI. Additionally, she is the only artist from South America to reach the number-one spot on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100, Canadian Hot 100, the Australian ARIA chart, and the UK Singles Chart.
Shakira is to be awarded with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

MEENAKSHI SESHADRI

Meenakshi Seshadri,(Tamil -மீனாக்ஷி சேஷாத்திரி) (born November 16, 1963) is an Indian film actress.

Early life She was born as Shashikala Seshadri at Sindri, near Dhanbad in Jharkhand (then Bihar) and was a student of Mount Carmel School. Her father was an employee of FCI at Sindri Fertiliser plant in [Sindri, Jharkhand|Sindri] [Jharkhand] India.

She won the Miss India contest in 1981 at age 18. She made her debut in Painter Babu (1982) opposite Rajiv Goswami, the son of Manoj Kumar. She shot to fame with the megahit film Hero (1983) directed by Subhash Ghai.

Her notable performances were in films Meri Jung (1985), Vijay (1988), Shahenshah (1988), Ghayal (1990),Damini (1993) and Duet (1994).

She also has a career as a Bharatnatyam, Kathak, and Odissi teacher/dancer. She has learned all four main dance styles of India and performed her Bharatnatyam Arrangetram at the age of four. One of her students performed her Odissi Manch Pravesh in 2005. Meenakshi continues to pursue dancing and has performed in several festivals in India. Overall, Meenakshi was one of the most talented and skilled dancers ever to be in any Bollywood films.