Dandiya Raas!! I love my dandiyas! If you ever get an opportunity to attend a Garba for a celebration such as Navaratri do it. There's nothing like diving right in to the culture and dancing the night away!

And again I have the opposite happening...I am the only white woman in classes. So I stand out at the performances quite a bit. But I am always warmly welcomed and accepted. Being a dancer opens up the world for me literally as well as figuratively! :)

How long have you been studying Odissi?

That's what I feel is the biggest issue for me when I'm dancing - the fact that I am in no way connected to Indian culture and that I might not even have "the right" to try and learn certain dance styles. It's almost the same thing with bellydance, but there are so many styles of fusion within the bellydance community that it's easy to overcome the issue of culture. In a sense the most natural thing for me would probably be to start learning the folk dances of Scandinavia and northern Europe but since "our" old dance forms aren't present in our everyday lives they sometimes seem to be almost as distant as Indian, or Middle Eastern dancing...

Pernila,

There is nothing like the right to learn something.

I would say that you should go with what truly speaks to you and calls you. Whatever that is.
Indian classical dance requires a lot of hard work and practice. If you are not in love with the dance form, it will be become a miserable experience for you.

I have been studying Odissi for 3 months only. I studied Kathak a bit when I was a kid and then gave it up. It just does not speak to me. But Odissi does.

Indian folk dances are much easier to learn such as Garba or Daandiya or Bhangra...The steps are simpler and there is not so much emphasis on getting to a perfection and there is much more freedom involved. Whereas Indian classical forms is a study for years and even then so, one has to come to a point to culmination of the studies which is called Arangetram for BharatNatyam and Rang Puja for Odissi.

So finally, whatever it is that you pick,. make sure that u really love it - everything about it - the movements, the music, the clothes, the rhythm. and then go for it. whether it be indian or not, with dedication, devotion and perseverance.

Yes, if you are not indian, it might take a bit more effort to learn about the culture and the tradition and history of the dance. What I find is that Indian Classical dance is immensely transforming. When you are start dancing with certain moods and on certain rhythms, the qualities automatically start getting imbibed into us. So just this journey of learning to dance itself can take into an immersion of what this culture is all about.

Many wishes.