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Article in Times Of India

Put on your dancing shoes,it's wedding time

Indians weddings are well known for songs and dancing rituals.It is an intrinsic part of every wedding celebration in all communities and is full of joy and verve. For Christians, the pre-wedding ceremonies have a lot of folk dancing to traditional music and songs. Gracy Fernandes exclaims "Dancing is the epitome of our wedding celebrations."On the wedding day the reception begins with the 'Grand March'.It has a quick tempo that sets the mood and gets everyone ready to swing and shake a leg.In this form, the couple and the guest around in pairs.This is followed by the wedding couples first Waltz together and they are then joined by family and friends.Ballroom dancing continues througout the evening and winds up with lively free style folk dancing. Framroz Ghaswala, a Parsi from Mumbai informs. "Today,even Parsis are dancing at their wedding receptions.There was no dancing in the past, but it's a recent trend and is catching up very fast."

Indian folk dancing have dominated Christian,Hindu,Muslim,Sikh and other religions.Functions like haldi, mehendi,sangeet,baraat and of course the main wedding celebrations.There is a lot of raas-garba in gujarat and bhangra in punjab. Elijash Gadkar says,"In Jewish weddings, we dance to English,Hindi and Hebrew songs." Indian weddings now have foot stomping Bollywood dancing.Film director Carlos D'silva explains,"We are Bollywood centric country and it has become part of our ethos. Bollywood dancing is popular because it is not formal and does not involve any rigid rules.Even little children can join in. It is not complicated and you do not need any training like ballroom dancing.In fact,many western countries now incorporate Bollywood dancing at their wedding receptions as a novelty."

The big fat Indian wedding is getting bigger and dance sequences today are choreographed by professionals.Many Indian couples now prefer a white wedding reception and ballroom dancing has swayed its way into the Indian wedding scenario.Dancer and choreographer Sandip Saporrkar informs,"Families today want to make the event a grand and memorable affair.The maximum preparation is for the sangeet or the wedding day dance.Couples-to-be,their families and friends want to study the authentic styles of dancing and perfect their moves.The most popular dance for the newly-weds is the Waltz and Rumba,and now even Tango i catching up.For the family,there is Cha Cha Cha,Samba,Jive and more.Some prefer ballroom dancing to bollywood music and some like to keep it traditional."

The cherry on the cake is very sensuous and interesting trend.Belly dancer Ritambhara Sahni says, Belly Dancing is now extremely popular and is recognized as an art form.Many brides want to give their husbands a surprise on their wedding night;or girls want to perform Belly Dancing at the wedding of their friends."Well, since the dance floor is getting hotter, put on your dancing shoes and get ready to groove to the rhythm of the night.

- Monarose Sheila Pereira