by Preethi Ramaprasad
What are the implications of a bejeweled dancer in fine silk on the proscenium stage performing a piece that undeniably centers caste? As the Bharatanatyam field reflects on the art form’s appropriation from the hereditary dance community, analyzing choreography reveals different bodily representations of caste. Many Bharatanatyam dancers globally perform excerpts of the Nandanar Charitram, by Tamil composer Gopalakrishna Bharathi. The plot traces Nandanar, a Dalit saint who is not allowed in many temples and ends with his immolation, allowing his “purified” self to unite with the Hindu god Shiva. I study performances of the Nandanar Charitram comparing…read more
by Rumya Sree Putcha
Learning traditional dance and music is a rite of passage for many young people in the South Asian diaspora. Poignantly featuring her own mother’s photograph on the cover, Rumya Sree Putcha’s The Dancer’s Voice: Performance and Womanhood in Transnational India connects the politics of cultural expression with transnational citizenship and gender using personal, ethnographic, and archival accounts. Putcha’s work chronicles her time training in Bharatanatyam and Kuchipudi, two forms of dance that are known as “classical,” from a diasporic perspective. Her writing is an important contribution connecting Indian “classical” forms of art and their…read more
by Ananya Chatterjea (review)
In many ways, dance is closely associated with the concept of time. On a microscopic scale, time forms the basis for rhythm in movement. On a macroscopic scale, dance is very much a product of the era in which it is produced and performed. Moreover, in this unprecedented period, artists are finding new meaning in their practices. COVID-19 has revealed existing and new inequalities seen in dance practices, funding structures, and governmental policies, shifting the ways that artists perceive their practices. Crediting yet expanding on the concept of time, Ananya Chatterjea’s Heat and Alterity in Contemporary Dance: South-South Choreographies explosively redefines the “contemporary.”…read more
by Preethi Ramaprasad
Bharatanatyam, a form of dance originating in South India, has rapidly gained a global reputation. With roots in temple ritual and salons passed from generation to generation through the hereditary dance and music community of Tamil Nadu, in post-colonial India, the practice began to attract students and performers from various backgrounds around the world as a performing art. While Bharatanatyam practitioners continue to navigate this history of shifts in performative practice, the art has now gained a serious fan following. With intricate movements, elaborate costuming, and intense training, its spheres of influence have grown to include everything from solo dancers to scholars to global touring ensembles…read more