Chapter 13 — Innovation, Inclusivity and Inspiring Change

New ideas in dance do not appear from nowhere. A banyan tree can spread its branches wide only because its roots go deep. In the same way, the more thoroughly a dancer knows the technique, history and vocabulary of a tradition, the more freely and confidently they can create something new. Every great innovator in Indian dance was first a deeply trained dancer.

Innovation means bringing something original into dance — a new movement, theme, structure, use of music or way of performing — while the work still has the depth that training gives. A strong foundation, combined with careful observation, personal experience and original thought, gives each dancer's work its uniqueness.

Movement is everywhere. Look around and you will see rhythm in the flutter of a bird's wings, the trembling of leaves in a breeze, the sway of tall grass, a broom sweeping a courtyard, a potter's wheel turning, women picking tea leaves on an Assam hillside, a fisherman casting a net. Any of these can become the seed of a dance.

From observation to choreography — a method:

• Observe the action closely. What is its rhythm? Which body parts move? Is it heavy or light, fast or slow, repeated or changing?
• Extract the essential movement — for tea-picking, the quick pinch of the fingers and the flick into a basket on the back.
• Translate it into dance vocabulary: choose a sthāna, a chārī or gati, a hasta (perhaps Haṁsāsya for the pinch), and fit it to a rhythm.
• Develop it: change level, speed and direction; repeat it in a group in a line or circle; add a feeling such as the joy of the first harvest.
• Refine: keep what is clear and expressive, remove what is clumsy.

Self-check: show your movement to classmates without telling them its source. Can they guess the everyday action behind it? Does it still look like dance, not just a copy? Both answers should be yes.

Remember, innovation is not throwing away tradition. It is a conversation between what has been handed down and what you notice in your own world.

A further step in innovation is to bring allied forms into dance — related disciplines that also train the body in movement. Martial arts are the most important of these. India has many traditional martial arts and sports whose training includes flowing movement sequences, strong stances, leaps and controlled breathing. Many dancers have creatively woven these into their work.

You already know one example. Chhau, danced in Jharkhand (Seraikella), Odisha (Mayurbhanj) and West Bengal (Purulia), developed from the martial tradition of pharikhanda — a practice with a phari (shield) and khanda (sword). The powerful stances, sudden turns and leaps of Chhau still carry this martial origin, and the basic exercises of Chhau training are rooted in it.

Why do martial arts and dance fit together?

• Both demand a strong, grounded stance and a flexible spine.
• Both use animal-inspired movements — the lion, elephant, snake and bird appear in both.
• Both depend on breath control to release power and stay balanced.
• Both train focus: the eyes lead the body in both arts.
• Both have movement phrases — sequences that are practised until they flow.

What martial arts add to dance: greater strength and stamina, sharper speed, high leaps, explosive energy, and a new range of shapes. They also add new themes — courage, defence, battle — and new ways of using the floor and space.

What dance adds to martial arts: rhythm, expression and storytelling, so that a sequence of kicks and turns can become a story of a warrior's journey.

Respect and safety: martial arts are serious disciplines with their own masters and lineages. When borrowing from them, learn from a qualified practitioner, understand the meaning of what you learn, and credit the tradition. Never practise with real weapons or attempt strikes towards another person without supervision. Use padded or imaginary props in class.

Self-check when combining forms: does the martial element serve the dance's idea, or is it just a display? A good fusion feels natural and meaningful, not stuck on.

Kalaripayattu is a martial art of Kerala and is considered one of the oldest martial arts in the world. Its name joins kalari, the training ground, and payattu, practice or exercise.

History and legend: according to legend, it was founded by the sage Parashurama, who is believed in tradition to have created the land of Kerala. Researchers connect its early roots to the Sangam period of South Indian history. It developed as a system of self-defence.

The kalari: traditionally, training takes place in a pit-like hall dug into the ground, with a shrine in one corner. Students begin and end each session by honouring the shrine and their teacher, the gurukkal.

Training is in stages:

• Meithari — body exercises: kicks, jumps, leaps, turns, bends and stances that build flexibility, balance and strength.
• Kolthari — training with wooden weapons such as sticks.
• Ankathari — training with metal weapons such as the sword and shield, only for advanced students.
• Verumkai — bare-hand fighting and defence.

Marma knowledge: the training is linked to the knowledge of marma points from Ayurveda — sensitive points of the body. Masters study them to protect and heal the body, and many gurukkals also practise traditional massage and treatment.

Animal stances (vaḍivu): movement phrases are built on stances of animals such as the lion, elephant, horse, snake, cat, boar, rooster and fish. Each stance teaches a quality: the elephant's stability, the snake's flexibility, the lion's power.

Kalaripayattu in dance: the famous dancer and choreographer Chandralekha was a pioneer in combining Kalaripayattu and yoga with Bharatanatyam in her productions, creating a powerful new movement language. Kathakali training also shares exercises with Kalaripayattu, especially leg and body conditioning.

Trying it safely: under a teacher, practise the elephant stance — feet wide, knees bent deeply over the toes, back straight, hands on the thighs — for ten seconds, and a controlled straight-leg kick to the front, swinging up and lowering slowly. Warm up first and never kick towards anyone.

Thang-Ta is a martial art of Manipur. The name joins thang, sword, and ta, spear, so it means the art of the sword and spear. It belongs to the Meitei people and is part of a wider Manipuri martial tradition known as Huyen Langlon.

Inner and outer energy: Thang-Ta aims to bring the inner energies of the body into harmony with outer action. Its movements, from slow, circling sword patterns to swift spear thrusts and leaps, are done with rhythmic breath control. The breath is timed precisely to each cut, turn and jump.

Ritual: Thang-Ta is also ritualistic. Performances often begin with prayers and offerings, and the practice is linked with Meitei religious ceremonies. It is performed at festivals as well as for self-defence training.

Movement and culture: it is believed that many movements of Meitei culture — including dance — draw on Thang-Ta. You may notice connections when you compare it with Manipuri dance: both use circular paths, controlled breath and a calm face even during demanding movement. In Manipuri's vigorous male dances, such as pung cholom, the leaps and spins echo the athleticism of Thang-Ta.

Comparing two martial arts:

Watching and learning: try one or two basic movements under a visiting practitioner or with your teacher's careful guidance, using video demonstrations from trusted sources. Work in small groups so the teacher can watch everyone.

Safety: use only sticks or rolled newspaper as imaginary weapons, keep a wide space between students, move slowly at first, and stop at once if anyone is too close.

Self-check: after practising, ask: Did my breath stay rhythmic? Did my eyes lead the movement? Did I stay balanced at the end of each turn?

Many dancers and institutions have used creative movement, and also traditional dance vocabulary, to tell stories of today. In Class 7 you met two pioneers of modern dance in India. Here are two more, each honoured with the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award for creative choreography.

Narendra Sharma was one of the senior-most students of Uday Shankar, the great pioneer of creative Indian dance. He carved out his own path in creative dance. His choreographies and dance-dramas reflected socially relevant, contemporary situations rather than only mythological ones. He is especially remembered for developing a free, healthy creative dance movement for children, and his work helped bring dance into organised education. He created more than forty original works; among the best known are Kamayani, Wolf-Boy, Antim Adhyaya and Gandhi. These were praised for their fresh themes and fine choreography.

Acharya Parvati Kumar was a pioneering choreographer of dance-dramas such as Discovery of India, Rhythm of Culture and Dekh Teri Bambai. He blended different Indian dance styles and used traditional forms to show modern ideas. In one famous example he showed Mumbai's dabbawalas delivering lunch boxes around the city using Kathak footwork, and a chase between police and a thief using the game of hu-tu-tu (kabaddi). On the traditional side, he researched and choreographed in Bharatanatyam the Marathi compositions of Raja Serfoji II of the Bhosale dynasty of Thanjavur. He also connected theory and practice by turning the Abhinaya Darpaṇam into an audio-visual presentation, so that the old text could be seen in movement.

What we can learn from them:

• Everyday life and social issues are valid subjects for dance.
• Traditional vocabulary can tell modern stories — Kathak footwork for dabbawalas!
• Research into old texts and compositions can be as creative as making new works.
• Children deserve creative, joyful dance education, not only drills.

Try it: choose an everyday city scene — a vegetable vendor, a crowded bus, a cricket match in a lane — and show it using one classical technique you know, as Parvati Kumar did with the dabbawalas.

Two women choreographers changed how Indian classical dance could be presented.

Kumudini Lakhia was a celebrated Kathak dancer and choreographer, based in Ahmedabad, where she founded the Kadamb centre for dance. She brought a fresh outlook to Kathak. Traditionally Kathak was a solo form, with one dancer performing set items. She introduced group choreography and contemporary themes. Going beyond the usual repertoire, she asked herself, in effect, 'Where do I go from here?' — and the answer became her first groundbreaking work, Atah Kim (a Sanskrit phrase meaning 'what next?'). Her other productions include Dhabkar (Pulse), The Coat and Hagoromo (Feathered Cloth). Her work combined abstract movement with stories and often dealt with contemporary concerns, while keeping the precise footwork and spins of Kathak at its core.

Chandralekha was one of the earliest dancers to bring dramatic change to traditional forms. Trained in Bharatanatyam, she combined it with yoga and Kalaripayattu, and drew on philosophy and literature.

• Angika presented the traditional body vocabulary of Bharatanatyam, based on the principles of the Abhinaya Darpaṇam, and joined it with Kalaripayattu.
• Lilavati was based on the mathematical treatise of Bhaskaracharya; she turned numbers, nature and imagination into dance.
• Prana explored yoga and breath in dance.

She also worked with modern dancers and actors from abroad in experimental productions, and made films and wrote about dance.

Comparing their approaches:

What to learn from them: ask questions of your own tradition; work with groups, not only solos; look for ideas in unexpected places, even mathematics; and keep the discipline of your form while you experiment.

Try it: take a Kathak or Bharatanatyam step you know and arrange it for a group of six — in a line, a circle, a canon (one after another) — and see how the same step gains new meaning.

Dance can speak about what is happening in our world today. Choosing a current, socially relevant theme — the environment, cleanliness, climate change, water conservation, road safety, kindness to animals, the value of girls' education — and turning it into dance is one of the best ways to practise innovation.

Steps to create a dance on a current theme:

• Choose and research the theme. Collect a few clear facts. For cleanliness, for example, learn how waste is separated into wet and dry, and why plastic harms animals and drains.
• Find the message. Write it in one sentence: 'A clean neighbourhood begins with each of us.'
• Choose music. A song linked to the theme, such as a Swachh Bharat song, or a song from your region that your class knows. Your teacher can help.
• Plan the structure: problem → turning point → solution → celebration. For cleanliness: a dirty, unhappy street; one child picks up litter; others join in; the street shines and everyone celebrates.
• Build the movement vocabulary. Use stylised everyday actions (sweeping, carrying, sorting), gatis for characters (a stray cow, a hurried shopkeeper), hastas (Patāka for 'stop', Alapadma for a blooming flower) and group formations.
• Use contrast: heavy, slumped movement for the problem; light, upright, joyful movement for the solution. The change of quality tells the story.
• Rehearse and refine. Check that each section is clear and the message comes through without needing a speech.

Making it powerful, not preachy: show, do not lecture. A single strong image — a dancer struggling to breathe among 'smoke' made of grey scarves, then a group of dancers planting trees around them — stays in the memory longer than many slogans. Let the audience feel the problem before you show the solution.

Judging your piece:

• Is the message clear without words?
• Does the movement change in quality from problem to solution?
• Do the facts you show stay accurate?
• Does the audience leave with a feeling and a small action they could take?

This kind of work links dance to citizenship: it lets young people say what they care about in a language everyone can feel.

Inclusivity means making sure that everyone can take part and feel they belong, whatever their ability, age, gender, language, community or background. It is an essential value in today's society, and dance, at its best, brings people together.

Dance and ability: more and more dancers create work that is accessible to everyone, including people with disabilities. Teachers work with people of all ages and abilities so that the joy of dance has no barriers. On national television and important stages you can see dancers who use wheelchairs, dancers who are blind or deaf, and dancers with other disabilities performing with great skill. Groups such as Ability Unlimited have shown wheelchair-based classical and folk dance in India and abroad. Deaf dancers often feel the rhythm through vibrations in the floor; blind dancers may learn through touch and sound cues.

Dance and gender: dance is beyond gender. Traditions that were once performed mainly by men, such as Kathakali, Kuchipudi and Sattriya, have opened their doors to women. Forms once danced mainly by women now have fine male dancers too. Most folk traditions have always had men and women dancing side by side. Transgender artists are also performing and teaching dance today. Narthaki Nataraj, a Bharatanatyam dancer, became the first transgender person to receive the Padma Shri, in 2019.

Dance and community: on 26 January 2025, India's 76th Republic Day, the Ministry of Culture brought together more than 5,000 folk and tribal artists from across India to perform on the Kartavya Path in New Delhi. It set a Guinness World Record for the largest ensemble of folk and tribal artists at one venue, and it symbolised inclusivity — many cultures sharing one stage in unity through diversity.

Making your dance accessible:

• Offer seated versions of standing movements so wheelchair users can dance the same choreography.
• Use strong rhythms that can be felt through the floor, and visual cues such as hand signals, for deaf dancers.
• Give spoken or touch cues for blind dancers, and keep the space clear of obstacles.
• Let each person adapt a step to their own range rather than forcing one 'correct' version.
• Cast roles by interest and skill, not gender.

Self-check: look at your group's dance and ask, 'Who could not join this as it is?' Then change something so they can.

Dance can make people think differently — to see the world with more compassion and to imagine solutions. Throughout history, song and dance have helped carry big ideas to large numbers of people.

In the freedom movement: during India's struggle for independence, patriotic songs, folk performances and dance-dramas spread the message of freedom from village to village, and inspired people of every region and language to join the struggle.

On social issues: choreographers have used dance to raise questions about gender discrimination, caste, child marriage, poverty and the environment. Dance can approach these complex, sensitive topics gently and start thoughtful conversations that a lecture might not.

An environmental example — Keibul Lamjao: the Jawaharlal Nehru Manipur Dance Academy (JNMDA) in Imphal, a leading institution for Manipuri dance, premiered a dance-drama called Keibul Lamjao in 1985, based on a script by the writer M. K. Binodini Devi. It is named after Keibul Lamjao National Park on Loktak Lake, the world's only floating national park, made of floating masses of vegetation called phumdis. The park is the last natural home of the Sangai, the brow-antlered deer and state animal of Manipur, which was close to extinction. The production used Manipuri dance to show the beauty of the Sangai and the need to protect it, carrying a conservation message to audiences through art.

How dance inspires change:

• It creates empathy — the audience feels the problem, not just hears about it.
• It is memorable — images and music stay with people.
• It crosses language barriers — movement can be understood everywhere.
• It brings communities together to act.

Your turn — what change can your dance prompt? Think of one change you want to see in your school or community. Plan a dance in which the audience feels the problem and then sees a hopeful possibility. Perform it at a school assembly and ask the audience what they will do differently.

Research project — dance beyond gender: many transgender artists perform and teach dance today. Choose one, research their training, art form, important works and the challenges they overcame, and present your findings in a journal or short case study. Use trusted sources, describe the person respectfully using the name and pronouns they use, and say what their work has changed for others.