Asia Education Foundation

Bollywood Inspiration

cover image: Dance Unit: Bollywood Inspiration

This unit lets students explore Bollywood song and dance. Students will get to recreate aspects of traditional Indian dance and experiment with gestural movement, vocabulary and established choreographic conventions. In their research and performances, students will identify and present both traditional and contemporary aspects of the Bollywood genre. They will experience first-hand examples of global cultural fusion.

 


View index

Activities 4-5

Activity 4: Lyrics and dance

  1. Return to the first sequence from Devdas viewed (the duo movement/voice-over scene between lead performers near the pool). The sequence is available on YouTube: www.youtube.com/watch?v=JRaGGVwTsDQ. This time view it with the subtitles on to discuss the link between the movement and the lyrics.
  2. View Colombian performer Shakira's 'Hips Don't Lie' on YouTube: www.youtube.com/watch?v=RKnAups_Lss. Famous Indian choreographer Farah Khan trained Shakira for a Bollywood version of her hit for the MTV Video Music Awards in 2006.
    • Discuss the influence of the Bollywood conventions, as well as the development of movement in response to the lyrics.
    Students may like to compare how this version differs from other versions that Shakira performs (which more obviously reference the belly-dancing tradition, amongst others).
  3. Have students choose a popular Australian song with clear lyrics. Ask them to develop a specific movement vocabulary, which communicates the lyrics. Perform this:
    • in silence
    • accompanied by a piece of music of the same genre
    • accompanied by a piece of music from a very different genre.
    Discuss:
    • the importance of lyrics and appropriate movement to the communication of the idea
    • whether some gestures are easier to understand than others.
  4. As an extension activity, students could review the Kathak dance segment and reflect in their journals on the extent to which it is important to understand the lyrics and the specific traditional gestures in order to appreciate an art form.

Activity 5: Performance

  1. Develop choreography into dance for presentation.
  2. Select appropriate music. Subtitles for lyrics are readily available on the DVDs or through Googling for the lyrics.
  3. Select appropriate costuming from either traditional or contemporary styles.
  4. Present with a program, discussion or poster explanation of the research undertaken during this unit.
  5. Have students return to their KWL charts to analyse their learning during this unit.