The rich heritage of dance comes down to us from time immemorial. Ever since Man was created, he created the art of movement i.e. dance. Each of the world? greatest civilizations has produced its own dances. In India, too, dance is rooted in the pre-historic past, for long before dance grew to be a complex art, human beings swayed, turned, stamped rhythmically and took the first steps of motion. It was an expression of joy. Being inspired by nature, one man swayed and stamped, his joy got spread among his associates, they responded with him. Thus the happiness of moving together developed.

This gave rise to a group of men and women of same social structure dancing together, thus originating the folk dance of that particular group and region. The man who started it, remains unknown. Thus folk dances are products of environment. Men even tried to pacify nature through ritual dances. We notice that the movements that started as only a joyous expression blossomed into specific dance patterns, which again got codified into rules of performance, thus emerging the classical dances. The creative impulse followed the aesthetics of art and new dimensions within it were explored. Rules were laid down in the texts i.e. the shastras. But folk dances prevailed side by side.

While learning the basic steps of a dance form a student also learns to make rhythms with the feet, - which rhythms can be expressed in spoken syllables like taka dhimi. Eyes, neck, shoulders, and hands are also used to accentuate rhythm and, later, to embellish melody.

More advanced training involves learning hand gestures and a stylised technique of mime with which to elaborate on the meaning of poetry that may be sung or chanted. During a performance, texts are interpreted, and meanings - philosophical or otherwise - are explored.

An accomplished dancer used to be expected to improvise movements during performance, following insights that came from the music, and the moment. Today, as dance and theatre forms develop on the modern stage, and two or more dancers perform what was intended as a solo form, danced movements are usually set before-hand. The music for dance, too, is set, with musicians often told how many times to repeat a line of verse or melodic phrase.