In India, dance is a long-standing and highly esteemed cultural tradition. Folk dances are popular throughout the nation, and festivals and weddings often feature sizable crowds of people dancing. Indian cinema also strongly incorporates dance and music.

However, from what source did Indian dancing originate? Indian classical dance forms, referred to as Shastriya Nritya, are derived from the words shashtriya, which means classical, and nritya, which means dancing.

Bharatanatyam, the oldest classical dance tradition in India, has its roots in the Natya Shastra from around 500 BCE and the ancient Tamil epic Silappatikaram from around 171 CE. Temple sculptures from the 6th to 9th century CE indicate that dance had become a refined performance art by the mid-1st millennium CE.

Originally known as Sadiraattam, Bharatanatyam was renamed in 1932 and is now the state dance form of Tamil Nadu. The dance form encompasses different types of bani, which refer to specific dance techniques and styles associated with a guru or school. Bharatanatyam is characterized by a fixed upper torso, bent legs, and flexed knees (Aramandi), along with intricate footwork and a vocabulary of hand, eye, and facial gestures.

India has eight traditional dance styles that come from various regions of the country.