Akademi presents APOTHEOSIS: Indian classical dance at the British Museum

Temple dances were banned in india by the British. Amusing to see a performance in a London museum.

There is an uncomfortable tension, I think, in celebrating a culture in a room full of stolen cultural artifacts. That being said, it was absolutely beautiful. You can see the hard work and training in the precision of the movements, the elegance and grace. I love how the clothes compliment and add to the dance, emphasizing the flourishes of the dancers, and the way the accessories add to the music, everything perfectly in rhythm

Imagine doing this in an actual temple, how the air would be so charged by the music, and it would feel so different to the dancers.

You gotta remember these idols was in India at one time and these idols have seen countless ceremonies in the past, but after it was taken from its original location, it probably has never seen or heard any Indian ceremonial, dance or songs so after so many years, these idols are awoken back up..

While marveling at the beautiful dance, I coudn't resist the thought that the place is full of stolen artifacts. This hypocrisy of British Museum sparkled a silent anguish inside me.

Idols and pieces of art can be stolen, but a real culture lives and blossoms through its people. Those dancers brought those stolen sculptures back to life.

They British need to return all of India's artifacts.!!!! It's their culture and part of who they are

They banned classical dances in temples.. Even my country was under slavery for more than thousand years yet my country and my culture is unbeatable in it.... Proud to be a Indian.... 🇮🇳🇮🇳🇮🇳🇮🇳

I actually love how they aer performing at the british museum. it’s like the indians are mocking the colonizers that however harsh they are, they would NEVER kill the spirit of on culture entirely, the image of the indian woman dancing around the all set up gallery, and the very fact that the british are using the indian culture to attract tourists, love this

Hindu Gods and Deities being rightfully showered with ancient dance form by devotees. It is high time British Museum returns these divine artefacts to where they belong, original land of spiritualism

I'm mexican and I understand the point about ancient stolen pieces....an another hand is absolutely beautiful art from India. Greetings from México. 😃

Indians wrote 1st book on Songs (Samveda), 1st treatise on Dance (Nattyashastra), 1st treatise on SXX (Kaamsutra), One of the earliest book of Phonetics, Prosody, Grammar, Etymology and Astronomy before Christ.

I’m not Indian but I admire the people and the culture so much. So much beauty preserved in their arts, traditions and culture. As divine as this presentation is…I do hope those artifacts are returned to Mother India.

0:15 , 15:10 ( bharathanatyam, tamilnadu(tamil) 🇮🇳) 4:52 (odissi , odisha(odia) 🇮🇳) 9:39 ( kuchipudi , andrapradesh(telugu)🇮🇳) 21:34 ( kathak , uttarpradesh(hindi) 🇮🇳) ja

I cried ..cried and cried.. tears were unstoppable at first remembering all the attacks my BHARAT MAA has gone through all these centuries…. Trying to dismantle our culture… but we were resilient .. and we came out even stronger…. I am absolutely shamelessly proud to be born in SANATANA DHARMA in BHARAT BHUMI… ! 😭🙏

You can see how Spanish Flamenco is a direct descendant of Indian Kathak (the last dance) brought to Europe by the Romani people of India (“gypsies”)

Museums are filled with relics of dead cultures civilisations. Funny isn’t it that our cultural civilizational life is not dead. That those pieces in the museum remain very much attached to our lives. This was reflected in the gestures and offerings made by the dancers to Shiva Nataraja

The first Lady who dance d was Suhani Dhakni. Marvellous dancer and she also played Madri in Mahabharat (star plus). All the other dancer were graceful and talented. Kudos to all of them❤

I'm Indian. As a kid, I thought that the Indian classical dances are so 'boring' and 'unexciting'. Growing up, I realised I was extremely brainwashed by the Western propaganda because of the British colonial mindest that some Indians, sadly, carry till date. That sentiment made me feel so guilty for carrying the inferiority complex and internalized racism for so long, and for thinking lowly about my own culture, heritage and traditions. As a grownup now, who is learning Bharatnatyam (the dance which the first lady performed, her name is Suhani Dhanki) I am mesmerized watching this video. Never realised when these 28 minutes went away.

インドから中国とシルクロードを経て、日本に仏教が伝わり仏像も目にすることに成りました。 阿修羅のように手脚を動かし舞う姿を1200年前の大和の人々にも見せてあげたいですね🎉😊