Class 7 Arts (Kriti) Chapter 12, Dance, You and Creativity, explores waist and hip (kati) movements across Indian folk and classical dances, dance-theatre traditions like Bhagavata Mela Natakam and Ankiya Bhaona, pioneers Rabindranath Tagore and Uday Shankar, and stage-to-screen choreography.
What Class 7 Art Chapter 12 Covers
Movements of Hips (Kati) in Dance (Activity 12.1) practices twisting (as in Garba), side-to-side (as in Kalbelia and Bihu), back-and-forth, and circular waist movements across folk and classical traditions.
Traditions, Pioneers & Choreography (Activities 12.2–12.3) studies Tamil Nadu’s Bhagavata Mela Natakam (Melattur) and Srimanta Sankardeva’s Assamese Ankiya Bhaona, highlights creative dance pioneers Rabindranath Tagore (Rabindra Nritya) and Uday Shankar, and guides students to choreograph their own creative piece.
Hip movements: the kati (hip) is a body part named in the Natyashastra. Garba uses twisting turns, the Kalbelia side-to-side movements, Bihu and Chhau back-and-forth movements, and the Sapera dance of Rajasthan circular movements like spinning a hula hoop.
Dance-drama traditions: Bhagavata Mela Natakam of Melattur, Tamil Nadu, and Ankiya Bhaona (Ankiya Nat) of Assam, which grew in the 15th century in the namghars and sattras of Vaishnavism.
Pioneers of modern dance: Rabindranath Tagore set up Visva-Bharati at Shantiniketan in 1921, where Rabindra Nritya developed. Uday Shankar began in 1920 dancing with Anna Pavlova and blended many Indian traditions into a new vocabulary.
Exercises in Chapter 12
- Activities, Circle Time reflections and end-of-chapter Assessment rubrics.
Read Class 7 Art Chapter 12 Online
More Chapters
- Previous: Chapter 11: Dance Vocabulary and Techniques
- Next: Chapter 13: Personalities
- Hindi medium: Class 7 Arts Chapter 12 PDF in Hindi (Kriti)
- All Art chapters and the other Class 7 books: Class 7 NCERT books 2026-27
- All Class 1 to 12 NCERT Textbooks: NCERT Books PDF (Class 1–12)
- Every book chapter by chapter: NCERT chapter wise PDF
FAQ
What are Bhagavata Mela Natakam and Ankiya Bhaona?
Bhagavata Mela Natakam is a traditional classical dance-drama from Melattur in Tamil Nadu, while Ankiya Bhaona is a devotional Vaishnavite dance-drama tradition created by saint-scholar Srimanta Sankardeva in Assam.
How did Uday Shankar contribute to modern Indian dance?
Uday Shankar pioneered modern Indian creative dance in the 20th century by blending Indian classical and folk movement vocabulary with contemporary theatrical staging and themes.
Who is called the pioneer of modern Indian dance?
Uday Shankar, who began his career in 1920 dancing with Anna Pavlova.