Day 8- Dances of Central Asia and Silk road- Bollywood and Bhangra

Ok, India, here we are. We came from Central Asia dances, Belly dances and Chinese dances, while still not giving time and energy to the vivacious Bollywood and Bhangra dances. While Bollywood dance is part of the film industry and tells a story within a story, Bhangra is a tribal dance from Punjab and delas with the conflicts and way of living of the inhabitants in that region.

According to the Wikipedia: "The dancing in Bollywood films, especially older ones, is primarily modelled on Indian dance: classical dance styles, dances of historic northern Indian courtesans (tawaif), or folk dances. In modern films, Indian dance elements often blend with Western dance styles (as seen on MTV or in Broadway musicals), though it is usual to see Western pop and pure classical dance numbers side by side in the same film."  

See below two styles of Bollywood performed in two diferent films:

1. we chose Ma hive youtube dance and song,  thanks to Malini's suggestion and  Kamal& Matthias 'wedding party!

Film Kal Ho Naa Ho (2003)

 2. Next dance is




We show below a Bhangra dance performed in the Bay Area in 2009. Bhangra began as a folk dance conducted by Punjabi Sikh farmers to celebrate the coming of the harvest season. The specific moves of Bhangra reflect the manner in which villagers farmed their land. This dance art further became synthesized after the partition of India, when refugees from different parts of the Punjab shared their folk dances with individuals who resided in the regions they settled in. This hybrid dance became Bhangra. The folk dance has been popularised in the western world by Punjabi Sikhs^[2]and is seen in the West as an expression of South Asian culture as a whole.^[3] Today, Bhangra dance survives in different forms and styles all over the globe – including pop music, film soundtracks, collegiate competitions and even talent shows. enjoy this week, and get soar!

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