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Dance of Kerala
It would seem
self-evident
to say that India
is a great place to go if you want to see traditional Indian dance and
hear its
music.
However, the
same statement would be less true of most other
countries, where
musical tastes tend more toward the same contemporary western pop music
heard around the world. In other cases, the music is often of local
origin
but not traditional, such as Thai and Korean pop. Indians, by contrast,
appear to revere their ancient culture and to be
intent
upon keeping its fine old arts alive.
Above
is the highly ritualized kathakali dance which tells stories from the
Ramayana and Mahabarata. Performances begin
with the application of elaborate makeup which is based on traditional
Ayurvedic
herbs. 
Kathakali is performed on schedule in certain theaters; the
photos above were
taken in Kochi/Cochin.
Mohiniattam
(below, right) and bharatanatyam are beautiful dance forms where bells
around the
ankles accentuate the rhythm of the mridangam player. Delicate
hand movements to give shape to the classical vocal melodies.
Unlike kathakali, these forms of dance might be seen wherever and
whenever there are
festivities.
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Dance
of Kerala
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Kathakali dance performance in Kochi/Cochin, Kerala.