Dance an Indian Art

Dance in India covers a wide range, from the ancient classical to modern styles. Its importance may be gauged from the fact that its three best-known deities, Shiva, Kali and Krishna, are typically represented dancing. There are hundreds of Indian folk dances such as Bhangra, Garba and special dances observed in regional festivals.India offers a number of classical Indian dance forms, each of which can be traced to different parts of the country. The presentation of Indian dance styles in film, Bollywood, has exposed the range of dance in India to a global audience.
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Classical Indian dance

Main article: Classical Indian dance

Each form represents the culture and ethos of a particular region or a group of people. The criteria for being considered as classical is the style's adherence to the guidelines laid down in Natyashastra by the sage Bharata Muni, which explains the Indian art of acting. Acting or natya is a broad concept which encompasses both drama and dance.
Indian classical dance is a misnomer, as actually dance refers to natya, the sacred Hindu musical theatre styles. Its theory can be traced back to the Natya Shastra of Bharata Muni (400 BC). The Sangeet Natak Akademi currently confers classical status on eight "dance" forms.

Shaivite tradition

Classical Indian dance of Bharatanatyam
Shaivites are those who worship the Lord Shiva. In "the lord of dance" are revealed both faces of dance - 'lasya' and 'tandava', of which all subsequent dance forms are offshoots. 'Lasya', the dance of aesthetic delight revealed beauty, grace, love and all tender aspects of existence. 'Lasya' is the mode that defined many of Shiva's iconographic forms - Kalyana-Sundara, Vrashavahana, Yogeshvara, Katyavalambita, Sukhasanamurti, Vyakhyanamurti, Chinamudra, Anugrahamurti, and Chandrashekhara.
Devi, Shiva's variously named consort, is alluded to have performed dance in her manifestations as Kali - Mahakali or Shamshana-Kali, and Bhairavi. Devi had many other forms, each representing a particular 'bhava'. So did ten Mahavidyas and 'Saptamatrikas'. Each of such forms was modeled using the dance-mode in which its characteristic 'bhava' transpired. Thus, in modeling Devi's other forms, too, a similar dance-iconography was used.

Vaishnavite tradition

The dance style performed by Sri Krishna and 107 gopi's in Vrindavan is called rasa-lila, and is considered as a form of devotional dance.