MohiniAttam is a unique form of Indian Dance, which originated from Kerala and to some extent Sri Lanka also has been performed by thousands of women artists since ancient time. It is one of the most famous forms of dance in South India and is one of the most popular form of Indian dance performed all over the world. The most interesting fact about this dance is that it is performed entirely by women. Unlike many other forms of dance, the choreography of MohiniAttam is entirely a male art and every female artist performs only the man parts. However, in the recent years, women have started taking part in the choreography and now the performance can be seen on the live stage.
According to myth, the first dancer to perform the kshemavati or the long dance was a Deva (woman) who was praised for her beauty and her dance. She was taken to heaven by the god of arts named Koothu and was presented with two beautiful daughters named Sita and Subhadra and was told to lead these ladies to heaven and to stay with them to look after them. These ladies were married to Koothu’s son and the legend says that these ladies taught these younger women the art of dancing.
In the state of Kerala, there are many dances performances which are performed along with music and live bands. Most of these dances originated from ancient dances of Southern India like Manipur and Karnataka. Today, these traditional dances are still widely practiced in Kerala. The performances include gymnastic, tug of war, pubs and a large number of traditional dances. All the modern dances and performances in Kerala are inspired from the classical dances of the Southern region of India like Mohini attam, Kumarakom dance, Bhrungraj, Koothu, Maqbara, Kottayam, Kattali, etc.