Each of the eight classical styles---Bharata Natyam, Kathakali, Kathak, Odissi, Manipuri, Mohiniattam, Kuchipudi and Kutiyattam---originated in a specific part of India where it is still practiced today. The Odissi style, for example, comes from the state of Orissa. Odissi dances symbolize stories about Krishna, the state's patron deity.
In the 800s and 900s, a surge in temple activity brought dance to the forefront of Indian society and the dancer to a position of prestige. Temple dancers, or devadasi ("servants of god"), lived at the temple's expense and paid no taxes on their property.
Dancers in a storytelling discipline, such as Kathakali or Odissi, re-enact tales from Indian epics, such as the Mahabharata or the Ramayana, using a system of hand gestures and facial expressions. The gestures, called mudras, are common between dance disciplines and usually stand for a single word; the Hastha Lakshanadeepika offers a definitive treatise on these mudras. However, some dances, such as the second of the three phases in a Mohiniattam performance, use purely abstract gesture. Each style has its own musical accompaniment with specific instruments and structures.
In the 19th century a sexualized variation on classical temple dances, called nautch-dancing, developed among lower-class prostitutes. In an effort to eliminate this trade, the British forbade traditional dances altogether. Such was the stigma the British created toward dancing that it caused problems with other decrees, such as the imposition of classical British education on upper-caste children. Indian parents feared that daughters who could read, write and play an instrument might be mistaken for dancers, traditionally the only class of women with such skills.
However, underground preservation paired with the surge of nationalism surrounding India's struggle for independence allowed traditional dances to make a comeback in the 1940s.
The revival of interest in classical dance caused new styles to appear and old ones to take on new features. Kuchipudi, which historically had featured only male brahmins, or priests, even in female roles, is now mostly performed by women. The Bharata Natyam style did not exist until the late 19th century, when four brothers known as the Tanjore Quartet created their own methods of training and composed new music. Modern practitioners have also supplemented the previously static repertoire of dances with new non-narrative choreography based on classical shapes and movements, distancing dance from its religious roots.
Films from India's Bollywood genre often involve elaborate song and dance sequences, known as item numbers, which combine traditional Indian choreography with modern western dance techniques. Music videos for popular songs by Indian artists sport a similar aesthetic. Off screen, an international interest in classical Indian culture has also taken root, resulting in numerous amateur training programs and competitions throughout the world.