Dance Facts

In bharata natyam, kathak and odissi - different regional forms of classical Indian dance - dancers wear heavy anklets of multiple bells called gungru or ghungroo . Ghungroo highlight and emphasize the rhythms of the dancer's feet. Dancers can wear up to 200 bells - 100 on each ankle.

Break dancing originated in the Bronx area of New York City in the early 1970s. It began in African-American street gangs. Dancers - known as b-boys (short for beat) - competed with each other, inventing new moves and trying to out-perform one another. Break dancing made a comeback in the late 1990s, becoming popular all over the world.

In Marinera Norteña, the man wears shoes, while the woman dances completely barefoot. With constant practice women are even able to dance barefoot on extremely hot pavement and coarse, very rough surfaces, as the soles of their feet become well seasoned and toughened up, something they are really proud of.

During a ballet, a male dancer can lift over 1 & a half tonnes worth of ballerinas! That's the same as picking up a Hippo!

Kabuki costumes are made with bold colors and patterns, it is said, to heighten the drama of the performance. Some costumes are quite heavy, weighting over 20 kilograms, and have the folds and layers that have to be carefully positioned when the actors sits down. Kabuki costumes are usually discarded after one 25-day theater run because the brilliant colors fade in the bright lights and they smell bad from all the sweat.