The starting of carnival with traditional dances portraying the colours of unique seasons was really exquisite. Spring-Odissi,
Summer-Bharatnatyam,
Monsoon-Kathak,
Autumn-Manipuri & Mohiniyattam,
Winter-Kuchipudi. Man my head was raised with pride when India showed the world how we celebrate, when WE celebrate. Which country can claim that their dances have derived from the GODS and GODDESSES themselves. The grace, the music, the stances. It seemed as nature was manifesting itself

ODISSI - Odissi is one of the eight classical dance forms of India. It originates from the state of Orissa, in eastern India. It is the oldest surviving dance form of India on the basis of archaeological evidences.The classic treatise of Indian dance, Natya Shastra, refers to it as Odra-Magadhi. First century BCE bas-reliefs in the hills of Udaygiri (near Bhubaneshwar) testify to its antiquity.

BHARATNATYAM - Bharatnatyam is one of the many traditional dance from India.It originated in grand temples of Ancient India.Its oldest description goes back to sangam literature(3 B.C to 3 A.D).

KATHAK - Kathak (Hindi: कथक, Urdu: کتھک) is one of the eight forms of Indian classical dances, originated from northern India. This dance form traces its origins to the nomadic bards of ancient northern India, known as Kathaks, or storytellers. These bards, performing in village squares and temple courtyards, mostly specialized in recounting mythological and moral tales from the scriptures, and embellished their recitals with hand gestures and facial expressions. It was quintessential theater, using instrumental and vocal music along with stylized gestures, to enliven the stories. Its form today contains traces of temple and ritual dances, and the influence of the bhakti movement. From the 16th century onwards it absorbed certain features of Persian dance and Central Asian dance which were imported by the royal courts of the Mughal era.

MANIPURI - Manipuri dance is one of the major Indian classical dance forms. It originates from Manipur, a state in north-eastern India on the border with Myanmar (also known as Burma). In Manipur, surrounded by mountains and geographically isolated at the meeting point of the orient and mainland India, the form developed its own specific aesthetics, values, conventions and ethics. The cult of Radha and Krishna, particularly the raslila, is central to its themes but the dances, unusually, incorporate the characteristic cymbals (kartal or manjira) and double-headed drum (pung or Manipuri mridang) of sankirtan into the visual performance.

MOHINIYATTAM - Mohiniyattam, also spelled Mohiniattam (Malayalam: മോഹിനിയാട്ടം), is a traditional South Indian dance from Kerala, one of the eight Indian classical dance forms. It is considered a very graceful dance meant to be performed as a solo recital by women. The term Mohiniyattam comes from the words "Mohini" meaning a woman who enchants onlookers and "aattam" meaning graceful and sensuous body movements. The word "Mohiniyattam" literally means "dance of the enchantress".

KUCHIPUDI - Kuchipudi (తెలుగు : కూచిపూడి) (pronounced as 'Koochipoodi') is Classical Indian dance form from Andhra Pradesh, India. It is also popular all over South India. The performance usually begins with some stage rites, after which each of the character comes on to the stage and introduces him/herself with a daru (a small composition of both song and dance) to introduce the identity, set the mood, of the character in the drama. The drama then begins. The dance is accompanied by song which is typically Carnatic music. The singer is accompanied by mridangam (a classical South Indian percussion instrument), violin, flute and the tambura (a drone instrument with strings which are plucked). Ornaments worn by the artists are generally made of a light weight wood called Boorugu.