This Week in Indian Dance
A curated roundup of the most notable dance events, news, and conversations happening across Indian cities this week.
Mumbai — Dance bars return, legally
Six years after the ban, dance bars in Mumbai are back under a new licensing framework. The Maharashtra government's revised policy allows standalone establishments (outside hotels) to operate with a renewed license, bringing an estimated 15,000 performers back into formal employment. Industry bodies estimate the sector could add ₹2,000 crore annually to the state economy. For the dance community, this is the most significant policy shift in a decade — and it changes how the city thinks about performance venues.
Chennai — Bharatanatyam season expands
The Margazhi season is six months away, but Chennai's sabhas are already announcing expanded programming. Over 200 solo and group performances are expected across December–January 2027, with a new open-air venue at Besant Nagar hosting free evening recitals for the first time. The city's dance calendar is the densest in India — and it keeps growing.
What's notable this year: several sabhas are programming crossover acts — Bharatanatyam with live Carnatic fusion, Kathak with electronic tabla, and one announced collaboration between a Chennai-based Bharatanatyam dancer and a Bengaluru hip-hop crew.
Kolkata — Hip-hop block party at TNT
Twist N Turns hosted an open-format hip-hop block party at its Salt Lake studio this week — breaking, popping, and open cipher. Around 80 dancers from across the city showed up, including crews from Jadavpur University and the Salt Lake underground scene. The session ran from 6 PM to well past 10. No competition, no prizes — just a room full of dancers trading moves.
Kolkata's hip-hop scene has been steadily building since the post-pandemic surge. Crews that started practicing in parks are now finding studio space. The city's Bharatiya Bhasha Parishad recently added breaking to its youth culture grant list.
Bengaluru — Weekend Zumba flash mob draws 300
A Zumba flash mob organised by a collective of five fitness studios drew over 300 participants at Cubbon Park on Sunday morning. The event was open to all — no registration, no fee — and covered three tracks across 45 minutes. The organisers said the intention was to show that group fitness in public spaces is still the most accessible entry point to dance-based movement.
Bengaluru's fitness-dance crossover continues to be the most active in the country, with new boutique studios opening in Indiranagar and Koramangala every quarter.
Delhi — A mother-daughter Kathak duo goes viral
A video of a 52-year-old mother and her 24-year-old daughter performing a Kathak jugalbandi in a Delhi living room crossed 2 million views across Instagram and YouTube this week. What caught people's attention: the mother started learning Kathak at 48 after retiring from a corporate career. Her daughter — a trained Odissi dancer — joined her sessions during the pandemic. The duo now performs at community events across NCR.
The video's popularity reflects a broader trend: adult-beginner dance classes in Delhi have seen a 40% increase in enrolment over the last two years, particularly among women over 40.
This is the first edition of a weekly series. If something caught your eye in your city's dance scene this week, we'd like to know. Write to us at danceindia@twistnturns.in.
Curated by the Twist N Turns Dance Desk — covering dance across India from our studios in Kolkata, where we've been teaching since 2005.