Oldest art form of the subcontinent:Classical Dance dates back to the fifth millennium B.C.

World Dance Day is observed all over the world on 29th April to pay tribute to one of the oldest art forms. In Pakistan, one of the celebrations involved a lecture demonstration in Karachi, The Power of Dance, with Sheema Kermani. Held at the Second Floor (T2F), which is a vibrant centre of Pakistan’s developing civil society- a community space for open dialogue that features a coffeehouse, a bookshop, and an exhibition gallery, it was a full house.

Sheema Kermani is a leading Pakistani classical dancer. She has dedicated almost three decades to the art, dancing and teaching it throughout her illustrious career. She is an exponent of Bharatnatyam and Odissi. Sheema explored the origins of dance and the similarities and differences inherent in various styles of dance. Through a lecture-demonstration, she created an understanding and awareness about dance as an art form and its crucial significance for the well-being of our society.

Pakistan has a history that dates back to the Indus Valley civilization. The dancing girl of Moenjodaro – the bronze statuette found in the ruins of Moenjodaro, is ample proof that dance, as an art form, flourished and evolved in the region into what we see as classical dance today. The movements and body gestures one sees in different schools of classical dances can be recognized sculpted into the ruins found throughout the sub-continent and which links classical dance closely and undoubtedly to our own history and heritage in Pakistan. 

Classical dance, unlike other pop-dances of today, requires years of proper training, as it is a meticulously defined form of dance. It needs total dedication to this art, through which an artist can convey emotions, cultural values, even stories... with great sophistication and grace. In a classical dance performance one finds beauty and love, sorrow and fear…and much more.