Chitra Banerjee

One of the best experienced choreographers and performers of
the Indian Classical, Folk, Modern and Rabindra Dances.

chitra's dance career | dance categories | chitra's poetry | contact chitra

Foreword

The Indian classical dances have been evolved from thousands of years ago through different stages of development, acquiring different regional styles over the years.

Archaeological findings, ancient sites, temples, ruins and historical buildings and constructions are proof of that. These Indian dance forms have spread not only to the island of Srilanka to the south of India but also to the countries of the South East Asia and even to China.  Any form of a powerful art and culture usually spreads to other neighbouring areas and countries and influences and may even sometimes dominate the art and culture of those areas and countries but it also is influenced by other types of art form.

This was happening to the Indian traditional and classical dance forms under the influence of the modern cinema and other unfamiliar dance forms.  So it has now become very difficult to maintain the parity and the authenticity of the Indian classical dance form. Therefore this resultant variation of the Indian classical dance can be classified as the modern Indian dance.

As the classical Indian dance form is very powerful and expressive of all human moods, emotions, feelings, actions and activities, so it is still very vibrant and alive and is perfectly capable of serving all artistic needs even today.  The distinctiveness of both these types of Indian dance is very clear to Chitra Banerjee who beautifully expresses it in her performance.