Created by Jaya Vaswani, Bollywood Dance for Beginners introduces Bollywood steps and styling, as well as cultural concepts that make Bollywood music and dance so uniquely colorful. A blend of stylistic influences from wit... more »hin and outside Indian culture, a dazzling kaleidoscope of ancient and modern aesthetics, customs, and lore, Bollywood tradition is an ever-evolving phenomenon. Jaya s instructional program helps you learn and adopt the cultural meanings of Bollywood dance moves and gestures from the very first steps, giving you instant enjoyment of the rich social texture underlying the glamour, playfulness and optimism of Bollywood dance. Jaya opens her program demonstrating the Namascar tradition - explaining this ancient Indian ritual of expressing gratitude for the gifts that have been given to you, and dedicating one s dance to the eternal and the divine powers of the universe. In the section on Haasta Mudras, the hand gestures originating in the 8 styles of classical Indian dance, Jaya introduces the unique motions of the hand most commonly seen in Bollywood dance. Haasta Mudras originate in sacred forms of temple dance, so it is important to distinguish between the gestures that carry devotional meanings and the safe-to-use movements that are appropriate for secular performances. The Bollywood Basic Steps section introduces typical Bollywood dance steps and techniques. In the Bollywood Keywords section Jaya teaches steps, combinations, and gestures tied to particular keywords heard in Bollywood songs, such as eyes, bindi, blessing, beloved, heart, crazy, magic, flower, and many others. You will quickly learn the key concepts of Bollywood songs, capture their traditional meanings in Bollywood dance routines, and choreograph your own routines using the colorful body language of Bollywood. Both the hand gestures and Bollywood keywords sections display all the terms and names of gestures and steps on screen, both, in their original language transliterations and translations into English. Jaya teaches a full Bollywood dance routine that will advance your skill toward intermediate level, and offers a dance-along section where you can learn and practice a wide array of Bollywood steps and combinations that extend far beyond the basics.« less
