History of Yoga Dance

Yoga Dance Statue

Yoga comes from the Sanskrit language and means "union" or "to join and integrate". It dates back to 3,000 years ago and is used as a practice of whole body wellness. Yoga combines movements and postures, known as asanas, and breathing techniques of different types in order to bring a body and spiritual union. Dance has incorporated poses and postures into their flexibility and movement training and recently has been bringing yoga into the actual dance moves. Hatha yoga is yoga of movements; most popular yoga courses teach Hatha yoga. Natya yoga is a spiritual dance yoga that began in India.

The Origins of Dance Yoga

Originating in India to bring practitioners to a higher state of consciousness, Natya yoga was developed to bring people closer to themselves and the gods. By expanding the static asanas, the dancer was able to master the karanas, which were specific dance combinations. They work with posture, attitude and perfected movements. The purpose of the dance is to bring into one the physical, mental and spiritual self.

Yoga Dance as Religious Experience

As with many traditional dancing methods one of the purposes is to relate a story to onlookers and show honor to the gods. Natya yoga has a specific dance, the Dance of Shiva, to incorporate much of the blissful dance of the cosmos. Since the yoga dance began in temples, it's only a small step to use it within religious ceremonies and rituals. Padmaja Suresh, an instructor of traditional Indian yoga dancing states, "In dance, these divinities are accessed in first person by taking on their characters, roles, episodes and events, in second and third persons by treating them as fellow humans with feelings of love, anger, fear, disgust, humor, wonder, courage, compassion either addressing them directly or communicating about them to others, all through their songs in praise and awe."

Yoga Dance as a form of Meditation

It is said that when dancers who fully take on the spiritual role of the dance are allowed into a state of "no mind". This term is used to describe a form of meditation where thoughts are not present and the dancer or meditation artist simply exist within the universe and themselves. The dancer is allowed to enter this meditative state in hopes to transcend the physical into the metaphysical.

Yoga Dance as a Form of Beauty

Yoga and yoga dance mimic nature and the gods. The traditional robes and colors, along with the slow and fluid movements, all depict beauty brought into a person to create the dance. Yoga dance, for all its symbolism, is still an art form that relies on the beauty of movements to portray the proper information to the onlookers or to the dancer themselves.

Yoga Incorporated into Modern Dance

Yoga is also incorporated into modern dance. Yoga poses are based in nature and involve very natural movements. On top of utilizing yoga as a method of training dancer's bodies to be more flexible, it is also very flowing and easy to incorporate into longer dance pieces. Even break dancing will use cobra form, as the dancer falls to the floor and fluidly moves the neck and head up supporting himself on his hands. In break dancing, it is done much faster than in traditional yoga, but the movements are the same.

References

• Padmaja Suresh's article on Dance Yoga
• Origins of Natya Yoga