The Changing Contours of Women and Dance in India (A Historical Twilight on Tradition and Transition) Prabhu Kumari Vanama * PG Dept of Historical Studies, Bharathi Women’s College, Chennai, India Abstract. A sweeping look at the magnificence of the Indian women through the forms, characteristics, challenges and changes occurred and are still occurring in traditional dance, forms the theoretical and pictorial substance of this study. At one level, it is a historical compendium of classical dance, an exploration of its’ moods and majesty, an ode to its sublime aesthetics and at another level, it is a stunning scholarly portrayal of a pluralistic society teeming with feminine cultural vitality. Keywords: Women, Bharathanatyam,, Kathak, Kuchipudi, Manipuri, Mohiniattam, Odissi. 1. Introduction According to Natyashastra or the treatise of Classical Dance “The Body should catch up to the tune, the hands must explain the meaning, the eyes must speak the emotion, and the feet must beat the time-measure” [1]. Bharatha’s Natyashastra which is popularly styled as Panchama Veda [2] speaks about 108 dance postures which constitute the basic structure of any classical dance and women whose mind as well as physic that is best suitable for this dance divine, naturally inclined towards dance from the inception of this universe. Women of India succeeded in developing an individual style which is a blend of the typical features of many Paramparas with the distinct stamp of their individuality. Basically, there are two types of dancing – Theatrical Dancing and then Social Dancing. While theatrical dancing is performed for entertainment of spectators, in social dancing the participants dance for their own pleasure rather than for entertainment of the audience [3]. Indian women are a spectacle to both the forms of dancing. Though theatrical dancing was prevalent, women of ancient India preferred and took more delight in involving themselves in social dancing. In India dance is a way of worshipping God. The dance is treated like an offering to God and the movements are like prayers to please the Lord. This typical tradition evolved into the custom of Devadasi (Devadasi means God’s Servant) system in India. The Indian women too spontaneously and wholeheartedly dedicated themselves to the temples to serve the divinity through their dances. The status of dancers was placed on a high pedestal since even the common women were entitled with equal status along with the men. At times, the Indian women were even stemmed as “Yatra naryastu pujyante, ramante tatra devta [4]. True to this dictum women were revered as the goddess MahaLakshmi (Goddess of Wealth and Fortune). Unity and Diversity which is the basis of our Indian culture, has its roots in the classical dance forms too. The essence of classicism remained as a foundation, but the superstructures of various styles emerged in various parts of the country. If alphabetically listed, these include 1) Bharathanatyam, 2) Kathak, 3) Kuchipudi, 4) Manipuri, 5) Mohiniyattam, and 6) Odissi. Kuchipudi dance does not find a place in this ancient traditional dance map of India, because one could come across to its reference for the first time in the historical records during the regime of the Ibrahim Quli Qutb Shah of the Qutubshahi dynasty (Golconda) [5]. Though, the dance suffered degeneration in the hands * Tel.: + 919380793799; fax: +91(044) 25286411 E-mail : prabhukumarivanama@yahoo.com 216 2012 2nd International Conference on Social Science and Humanity IPEDR vol.31 (2012) © (2012) IACSIT Press, Singapore