The Northern Areas of Pakistan are spectacular, not only in their topography, but also in their people and their culture. The numerous festivals, which revolve around dance and music, are living examples of traditions handed down through the ages from distant ancestors. The dances in particular embody the ancient spirituality of these people.

As these areas open up to modern times and the mountain folk begin to feel the change, cultural heritage is in danger of being forgotten. For all their richness and excellence, the dances have not yet found recognition or patronage by government departments, cultural institutions or the private sector.

There is an urgent need to carry out new initiatives for the preservation and promotion of the mountain dances of Pakistan so that the world does not lose a very special part of its heritage.

The Mountain Dances project aims to document intensively, and thereby try to salvage, an ancient art form that is widely spread across NWFP and Balochistan, but in small pockets and little known outside its sphere. CoC endeavors to protect, promote and honour the mountain dances and hopes to instil within the people of Pakistan an appreciation, ownership and pride in our heritage and culture within the masses.

The Mountain Dances project  - Aimed to document, archive, disseminate and promote audio-visual, print and web material related to the mountain dances of Pakistan. An audio-visual archival database of these dances will be created and shared with public and private libraries, museums, performing arts organizations, electronic and print media. It will lead to the restoration of these dances and sustainability of dancers.

The Mountain Dances project has been selected as a client project for the Gods Who Dance archiving and documentation initiative, a collaboration between Core of Culture Dance Preservation and The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts Dance Division. This project is currently in development stages.

Classical Dancers of Pakistan - A tribute to classical dancers, the devoted performers of an art which must not be allowed to die.

The Indian subcontinent has given rise to dozens of art forms that are stunningly beautiful and unique to this splendid region. Classical dance is one such art form that has developed its many exquisite manifestations over a long period of time, such as the Bharat Natyam, Manipuri, Odissi and Kathak. Though dance continues to flourish in what is now India, classical dance and its exponents have faced an uphill task in Pakistan. The loss of patronage of maharajas, the indifference of successive governments, and a tendency to downgrade dance as art, made survival as a dancer more and more difficult with time. Many artists faded away into oblivion, but some remained true to their art and tried to keep the flame alight. 
Classical Dancers of Pakistan is an effort to recognize, document and pay homage to the men and women who have kept dance alive in Pakistan. Some have passed away, some perform and some teach, hoping to raise a new generation of artists who will love and sustain this art. The project is becoming more and more relevant as some of the existing artists have reached a part of their lives where only memories are kept alive, and these too may fade away, resulting in a loss that will be irreplaceable. 

The project will entail intensive research, conducting in-depth interviews and sifting through already available archived material, to present a true picture of classical dancers in Pakistan. The collected data will be published in a bi-lingual photographic book that will list classical dancers, their short biographies, their dance styles, and photographs of performers and performances. The book will be a tribute to these performers, and a reference document for this era of classical dance in Pakistan.  

Organized and up-to-date data on dances and dancers of Pakistan is not available. Proper documentation, preservation, and development of this art form in our country requires a dependable database as a starting point. 

National Dance Foundation is taking the initiative to start the compilation and organization of a comprehensive database of all the dances and dancers of Pakistan, with their profiles and contact details. This database will be made available online and in print.