On the World Dance Day (April 29) several programmes were organized by cultural groups. At the Braj Mandal Heritage Conservation Society programme students of several European countries and China presented dance performances directed by ace Kathak dancer Jyoti.

The classical dances of India may not be drawing our youth who are attracted to Salsa, hip-hop and the vulgar gyrating movements that pass of as dances, but girls from more than a dozen countries studying at the Central Hindi Institute have proved keen fans of Kathak, says Jyoti.

"These girls are totally engrossed and devoted to our classical dances and have perfected the facial nuances, the mudras and abhinaya and the nakhras," she adds. "I have told them for Indians the classical dances are a form of worship of the Lord, an aradhana and therefore a high level of sensitivity and commitment was required. The foreign students have responded positively and creatively. Their passion is amazing."

Jyoti told Agratoday.in, "Kathak evolved in the Mughal courts as a classical dance but is on the verge of extinction in its place of birth. Other classical forms too were under threat. The mass-connect is sadly missing."

Kathak has had a chequered history over past 1500 years or more, emerging from our temples to durbars, to films, to the kothas of Tawaifs and in each age new elements have been added.

The International Dance Day was started 30 years ago by International Dance Council, an umbrella organization within UNESCO to promote awareness of the importance of dance among the general public and to persuade governments of the world to include dance in the educational system at the primary level.

To a specific question why western dances were becoming popular with the youth, Surendra Sharma, president of the Braj Mandal Heritage Conservation Society, said "while the classical dances of India had definite religious and spiritual dimensions and were often considered as a form of sadhna or worship requiring adherence to a certain code, the western dances had more flexibility and could be performed just anywhere and even after consumption of liquor. Now you cant do a classical dance in a baraat on the road or in a disco. Today's requirements of dances were quite different and as more and more youngsters were moving out, living together, social dancing was now the need of the hour."

But dance humans must. It connects them to nature. In his message on the 30th anniversary Moroccan Choreographer Sidi Larbi Cherkauoui says "dance is one of the most honest form of expression of creativity. When people dance whether hip hop or a ballet in a disco cutting loose there are seldom any lies deployed, any masks worn."

Dance as a performance is a celebration of existence. It brings people together, says Jitendra Raghvanshi, general secretary of the Indian People's Theatre Association (IPTA).