The dance of yoga

Yoga has been approached in the West to many disciplines, most of the time moving far away from the original matrix.

We have often dealt with these fusions ranging from power yoga, to yogilates, to yoga with dogs: there really is something for everyone.

A way less traveled and, in my opinion, fuller of ideas is that which proposes to combine yoga with dance . The web, a showcase of every activity in the modern era, is full of news and information about it. Unfortunately, often, they are not fully intelligible because they consist of rather vague descriptions, general or smoky.

The causes of this phenomenon are probably to be found in the novelty of the proposal in which much is entrusted to the inspiration, preparation and background of the teacher. Thus each course turns out to have practically unique specificities and systematization is not a trivial matter.

Therefore, if an evaluative analysis is not indicated, nothing prevents one from proceeding with a descriptive approach that illustrates in which ways yoga and dance can touch each other in a constructive way .

Therapy and choreography in dance yoga

The activities that are proposed to combine yoga and dance are generally called yoga dance or yoga dance and can be roughly divided into two large groups: on the one hand there are those masters who propose yoga dance as a therapeutic tool for psychological support, from the others are those who understand it as a yoga class, but with peculiar characteristics typical of the style taken into consideration.

Regarding the first group, yoga dance can be merged into a branch attributable to the art therapy (although it is not exactly the same, of course) and in these classes the discipline is practiced not only for the purposes inherent in it, but also for with a therapeutic purpose, usually under the supervision of a yoga teacher, but also a psychologist or a counselor if the aforementioned figures do not coincide.

In the second methodology, the scenario is that of the classic yoga class where, however, the asanas are declined with artistic aims - so to speak - or with the aim of creating, through the fluid passage from one position to another, a sort of choreography often accompanied by music.

Outside these two groups can be placed the Shakti Dance, very fashionable in recent years. This discipline, conceived by dancer and yogini Sara Avtar Olivier, consists of a mix of yoga and real dance steps.

Indeed, the official website of the discipline states: " The Shakti Dance is the yoga of dance, or the conscious practice of dance pervaded with the wisdom of yoga (...) The unique and harmonious union of moving asanas and various dance styles ".

To get a more concrete idea of this explanation, watch the video at the bottom of the article: it is a small demonstration of this type of yoga dance.

Yoga and dance, an ancient combination: the mudra heritage

Very often when it comes to dance and yoga the most immediate combination is with Indian dance . This is because both disciplines share a rich repertoire of the so-called mudras, that is, of particular positions, usually of hands (but not only, in yoga), which act as a support for asanas, breathing techniques or meditation.

If in the dance they are performed for narrative and artistic-aesthetic purposes, in yoga, in addition to the functions just mentioned, they can be adopted for therapeutic, mystical or devotional purposes.

This should not lead to easy trivializations or simplifications regarding a very complex discourse on Indian dance and yoga, it is simply a starting point for reflection on how art and spirituality draw on the same source to satisfy different types of thirst in a speech that, in power, is valid yesterday as today.