Glimpses of Indian Classical Dance

The Challenge
Glimpses of Indian Classical Dance is a book by Guru. Shubhada Varadkar, an Odissi dancer and exponent of Indian classical dance. She is a recognized national artist, and a recipient of prestigious awards like ‘Mahari Award’ and ‘Singar Mani Award’. Through this book, she wanted to offer an overview of the classical dances in India. Dance has always been an integral part of India’s rich culture, but needs to be decoded for common audiences.

This book explains seven classical dance forms: Bharatnatyam, Kathak, Kathakali, Kuchipudi, Manipuri, Mohiniyattam, and Odissi. These seven classical dances have a tradition of several thousand years, each with its unique technique and repertoire.

How we did it
These seven classical dances are known for eloquent expressions, graceful movements and captivating posture, all of which tie back to some piece in our history or heritage. Knowing that the book needed to appeal to common audiences, we adopted a rich colour palette dominated by red. Red is the perfect expression of passion, excellence, and energy – a theme that runs common through all the classical dance forms.

Given its highly visual approach, the book had many illustrations of the postures and movements. It also introduced common theories from the Natyashastra in a simple illustrative manner that was easy to understand.

CLIENT / Subhada Varadkar
SECTOR / Culture
SERVICES / Communication