Abstract
My project of writing a monograph on critical dance studies in and from India started with the idea of questioning the umbrella term ‘Indian dance’—used to designate all types of dance from and in India—through a geopolitical understanding of this almost bounded and hence identifiable collection of dances. Such an umbrella term erases the unique identities of dance and embodied practices from particular communities, for whom such specific communicative practices work as markers of identity, tools for generating solidarity, and a shared sense of belonging. It also challenges the idea of microspecialities of local and embodied knowledge systems as rhizomic structures within and across regions in the country.
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Notes
- 1.
The process of adding the word ‘critical’ to change the name of Dance Studies to ‘Critical Dance Studies’ is energized by the change that the University of California Riverside Dance Department faculty voted for in 2011, to change the name of a course from the previous PhD program in Dance History and Theory (est. in 1993) to the one that emphasizes on criticality as a basic premise. The new focus centred on dancing bodies as integral to various historical, social, cultural, rhetorical, and political connections and processes. Students were given a range of graduate and undergraduate courses that reflected this ethos of dance and dancing bodies as integral to the politico-historical spaces they were a part of. The name change was proposed by two scholars/faculty of the department Marta Savigliano and Priya Srinivasan. The name change was voted in unanimously by all the faculty at the time to reflect on the complex, interdisciplinary processes at the heart of Dance Studies offering a critique of the field, even as it was to offer itself as critical and self-reflexive in its making and unmaking.
- 2.
See Janet O’Shea (2010).
- 3.
Marg continues its journey through a long 77 years, having prioritized dance as one of its principle focuses. It has published several special volumes on dance, and innumerable articles on regional dance genres, as well as classical dances.
- 4.
The compilation of papers came out under the name Papers From the First Dance Seminar. They were edited and collated by Sunil Kothari for Sangeet Natak Akademi.
- 5.
See Anita Cherian’s “Redefining the Public: Naturalizing the Private: Rewiring of Cultural Policy”, 2017.
- 6.
See details of the umbrella organisation for music, dance, and theatre, under the Ministry of Culture https://www.sangeetnatak.gov.in/about-us. Accessed 03-02-2023.
- 7.
See https://www.kalakshetra.in/ for details and structures of Kalakshetra Foundation, which was declared as an institution of national importance in 1993. Accessed on 03-02-2023.
- 8.
Kerala Kalamandalam remains the premier academy for Kathakali dance. See https://www.kalamandalam.ac.in. Accessed on 03-02-2023.
- 9.
The Sattriya Academy was established in Guwahati, as a part of Sangeet Natak Akademi’s project supporting Sattriya Dance, Music and Ankiya Bhaona (theatre). See https://www.sangeetnatak.gov.in/centres-of-the-akademi/sattriya-kendra. Accessed on 03-02-2023.
- 10.
The Sangeet Natak Akademi mentions that “in order to fulfill its commitment towards the promotion, propagation and preservation of the performing arts of India, established its ‘Chhau Kendra’ at Chandankiyari, Dist. Bokaro, Jharkhand in 2018”. See https://www.sangeetnatak.gov.in/centres-of-the-akademi/chhau-kendra. Accessed on 03-02-2023.
- 11.
See https://narthaki.com/ (accessed on 03-02-2023) for details of academies and dancers.
- 12.
See www.indiaculture.nic.in/financial-assistance-promotion-guru-shishya-parampara-repertory-grant. Accessed on 03–02-2023.
- 13.
See “Conversations Across the Field of Dance Studies: Decolonizing Dance Discourses”, 2020.
- 14.
The Preface of the article mentions “The Gathering on August 9, 2019, featured presentations by Jasmine Johnson, Prarthana Purkayastha, and Maria Firmino-Castillo on “dance,” with Cynthia Ling Lee, Anusha Kedhar, and Arabella Stanger discussing “choreography.“ On August 10, 2019, Munjulika Tarah, Anthea Kraut, and Clare Croft addressed “technique,” while Imani Kai Johnson, Shanti Pillai, and Janet O'Shea spoke on “training.“(Banerji & Mitra, 2020).
- 15.
Rites of passage in anthropological terms are the principle rites of signification around the achieving or changing social status, such as puberty, marriage, birth, death in the life of a human being.
- 16.
Chhau is a dance form from the eastern part of India, recognised in 2010 as a Representative of the UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity. See https://ich.unesco.org/en/RL/chhau-dance-00337. Accessed on 03-02-2023.
- 17.
Yakshagana is a popular performance tradition from coastal Karnataka that combines dance-song-music-drama-dialogues by dancers/actors using elaborate costumes.
- 18.
See Brahma Prakash’s essay “The erotic power of the dancer: labour of the erotic and the bodies of the sensory in the Arkestra of North India” (2022), and Aishika Chakraborty’s essay “Calcutta cabaret: dance of pleasure or perversion? (2023)
- 19.
Lobbying is very specific term implying asking for special favours such as government recognition, awards from the Sangeet Natak Akademi, or the Padma awards that are given annually.
- 20.
- 21.
In his Prison Notebooks, Gramsci writes about ‘Pessimism of the Intellect, Optimism of the Will’ in the early part of 1930s, to assert the importance of creating and holding on one’s ideological commitments to social equality and transformation against the growing authoritarian atmosphere of the first half of the 1930s projects the binary of ‘classical’ and ‘folk’ in a factual manner.
- 22.
The recent resurgence of debates in the world of dance regarding the transgression of cultural, aesthetic and economic ownership of dance knowledge and the continued disregard of this continuing violence over the long post-independence years may be read through. Alone (2017) writings amongst those from within the world of dance practice and scholarship.
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Sarkar Munsi, U. (2024). Introduction: All That is Dance. In: Mapping Critical Dance Studies in India. Performance Studies & Cultural Discourse in South Asia, vol 2. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-99-7359-0_1
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