Classical dances of India are based on three aspects: Natya, Nrtta, and Nritya. Nrtta is the abstract pure dance, characterized by complex choreography and lacking a symbolic meaning. Natya is the use of facial expressions and hand gestures by the dancer to narrate a story. Nritya is the combination of pure dance and expressions that emphasize the music’s lyric and mood. In addition, Indian classical dance is comprised of hand gestures known as (hastas) and foot movements that are like the alphabet with which steps and ultimately entire dance items are created.

Bharatanatyam is one of eight classical dance forms of India. The style is indigenous to Tamil Nadu, in south India, and the lyrics are in the Tamil, Telugu, and Kanada languages of South India. In terms of philosophy, the dance signifies the human soul’s search for the ideal. Religiously, the dance represents the search for the Supreme and the desire to unite with God. And scientifically, the dance strives to gain the perfection of body technique and geometric movement. The profound spiritual quality of classical dances is the result of the fact that Bharatanatyam was once the dance performed by a community of women who were given away to temples at birth, known as the Devadasis or the “servants of God.” These women never married a mortal man, but instead dedicated their entire life to dancing to honor the deities of their temple, or their divine “husbands.” During the British rule of India, the princes and kings and noblemen who had thus far patronized the devadasis became rare in most places as well, forcing these women to take to prostitutional dancing. It was through the efforts of women from middle class upbringings who dared to learn what the devadasi dance and change it for a middle class sensibility, that today’s Bharatanatyam came about. Because of this devadasi background, many of the themes of this dance are religious. Dancers of Bharatanatyam must undergo years of dedicated training to learn the intricacies of the dance, beginning with basic steps leading up to full items comprising of pure dance and expressive dance.

Kathak too is a classical dance style, mainly associated with parts of Northern India. It is a popular misconception that Kathak originated solely in India, when it actually expresses a blending of Persian and Urdu and Hindu poetry and philosophy. Kathak began as a traditional storytelling ritual of temples, in which professional storytellers called kathikas would recount stories from Hindu mythology, using gesture and mime. In the fifteenth century the Mughals emperors ruling India lured some of these temple storytellers to the courts, where the dance became influenced greatly by Persian music and dance. In the courts, too, the dance developed a strong emphasis on physical movement as opposed to the earlier emphasis on gestures and expressions. Also, the court dance developed an air of romanticism. Today this dance is a combination of both the temple and court styles, reflecting spiritual and physical development. The hallmark of Kathak today is intense footwork and clear pirouettes and also stylized expressions.

Kuchipudi is another of India’s classical dance forms, which originated in the south Indian state of Andhra Pradesh. The first group of Kuchipudi dancers were from upper class families from a village Kuchelapuram (which later became Kuchipudi), who performed religious and mythological dramas in different villages for various festivals. At this early time, men played the parts of women too, as it was dangerous for women to be part of these groups that traveled by foot to distant villages. Another issue was that, since most women dancers of the time were the “ill-reputed” temple dancers, Brahmin families thought it best to teach boys dance, in order to keep the sanctity of the religious stories being portrayed. Since carrying props from village to village was an inconvenience these dramatists relied mainly on elaborate, adoring description of characters and settings and metaphors to bring alive the drama. Accompanying the actors/dancers were musicians who sang in the classical Indian dance style known as Carnatic music. Eventually, certain dancers of this Kuhcipudi village, wanting to develop this drama and dance form more, set up academies in the city of Madras, Tamil Nadu, which was becoming the hub for classical art forms in India. Today it has undergone dramatic changes. Most performances are now solo performances (usually by women), though dance dramas in Kuchipudi are still very prevalent. Today Kuchipudi is characterized by quick footwork to fast or slow beats, sculpturesque body movements and poses, and mimed movements using the face, eyes, and even spoken dialogue.

When the Mughals took control of India, they had many of the original Hindu storytellers of the region of Rajasthan, India, brought into the courts as entertainers. In the courts, because stories from Hindu mythology were not of interest to the Mughal rulers, what was once the dance Kathak became infused with fast spinnings, swift movements, and graceful hand gestures of Persian influence - the birth of mujra. After the mainstay of Mughal emporers died away, the mujra dance was performed in separate kothas (buildings) by dancers called tawaifs for audiences made up of mostly upper class young men. These dancers were labeled "whores" after the British colonial Anti-Nautch (anti-dance) movement left many from these dancing families at the feet of prostitution, and this is the pervasive sentiment attached to the mujra even today.