Editing Performing arts (section)

====India====
{{main|Theatre in India||Sanskrit drama}}
[[File:Bharatanatyam is a major form of Indian classical dance that originated in the state of Tamil Nadu.jpg|thumb|left|[[Bharatanatyam]], an Indian classical dance that originated in [[Tamil Nadu]]]]
[[File:Gotikua dance.jpg|thumb|left|Gotikua folk dance is one of the well known performances performed by all boys group dressed in the Indian ladies attire [[Saree]].]]

Folk theatre and dramatics can be traced to the religious ritualism of the [[Vedic period|Vedic peoples]] in the [[2nd millennium BC]]. This folk theatre of the misty past was mixed with dance, food, ritualism, plus a depiction of events from daily life. The last element made it the origin of the classical theatre of later times. Many historians, notably D. D. Kosambi, Debiprasad Chattopadhyaya, Adya Rangacharaya, etc. have referred to the prevalence of ritualism amongst [[Indo-Aryans|Indo-Aryan]] tribes in which some members of the tribe acted as if they were wild animals, and some others were the hunters. Those who acted as mammals like goats, buffaloes, reindeer, monkeys, etc. were chased by those playing the role of hunters.{{citation needed|date=January 2023}}

[[Bharata Muni]] (fl. 5th–2nd century BC) was an ancient Indian writer best known for writing the ''[[Natya Shastra of Bharata]]'', a theoretical treatise on Indian performing arts, including theatre, dance, acting, and music, which has been compared to [[Aristotle]]'s ''[[Poetics (Aristotle)|Poetics]]''. Bharata is often known as the father of Indian theatrical arts. His ''Natya Shastra'' seems to be the first attempt to develop the technique or rather art, of drama in a systematic manner. The Natya Shastra tells us not only what is to be portrayed in a drama, but how the portrayal is to be done. Drama, as Bharata Muni says, is the imitation of men and their doings (''loka-vritti''). As men and their doings have to be respected on the stage, so drama in Sanskrit is also known by the term ''rupaka'', which means portrayal.<ref>{{Cite web| title=Bharatmuni’s Natyashastra: The Rise of Indian Drama | url=https://www.ijtsrd.com/papers/ijtsrd49615.pdf/ | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230131092439/https://www.ijtsrd.com/papers/ijtsrd49615.pdf | archive-date=2023-01-31}}</ref>

The ''[[Ramayana]]'' and ''[[Mahabharata]]'' can be considered the first recognized plays that originated in India. These epics provided the inspiration to the earliest Indian dramatists and they do it even today. Indian dramatists such as [[Bhāsa]] in the 2nd century BC wrote plays that were heavily inspired by the ''Ramayana'' and ''Mahabharata''.{{citation needed|date=January 2023}}

[[Kālidāsa]] in the 1st century BC, is arguably considered to be ancient [[India]]'s greatest dramatist. Three famous romantic plays written by Kālidāsa are the ''[[Mālavikāgnimitram]]'' (''Mālavikā and Agnimitra''), ''[[Vikramōrvaśīyam]]'' (''Pertaining to Vikrama and Urvashi''), and ''[[The Recognition of Sakuntala|Abhijñānaśākuntala]]'' (''The Recognition of Shakuntala''). The last was inspired by a story in the ''Mahabharata'' and is the most famous. It was the first to be translated into English and German. In comparison to Bhāsa, who drew heavily from the epics, Kālidāsa can be considered an original playwright.{{citation needed|date=January 2023}}

The next great Indian dramatist was [[Bhavabhuti]] (c. 7th century). He is said to have written the following three plays: ''Malati-Madhava'', ''[[Mahaviracharita]]'' and ''Uttar Ramacharita''. Among these three, the last two cover between them, the entire epic of ''Ramayana''. The powerful Indian emperor [[Harsha]] (606–648) is credited with having written three plays: the comedy ''[[Ratnavali]]'', ''[[Priyadarsika]]'', and the [[Buddhist]] drama ''[[Nagananda]]''. Many other dramatists followed during the [[Middle Ages]].{{citation needed|date=January 2023}}

There were many performing art forms in the southern part of India, Kerala is such a state with different such art forms like [[Koodiyattam]], [[Nangyarkoothu]], [[Kathakali]], [[Chakyar koothu]], [[Thirayattam]] and there were many prominent artists like [[Ramanchakyar|Painkulam Raman Chakyar]] and others.{{citation needed|date=January 2023}}