Full Description
A dynamic, living cultural practice of modern South Asia, Bharatanatyam is widely recognized as one of the world's fastest-growing dance forms. This reader brings together some of the most important essays on Bharatanatyam written over the last two hundred years. Drawing from history, dance studies, women's studies, religious studies, and ethnomusicology, this reader shows how this dance form has generated complex social histories and varied aesthetic practices. The comprehensive Introduction provides a broad understanding of the historical, socio-political, and aesthetic issues in Bharatanatyam alongside a contextual mapping of the sources.
Contents
INTRODUCTION BY DAVESH SONEJI ; PART ISONGS' ; JOEP BOR / 'MAMIA, AMMANI AND OTHER BAYADERES: EUROPE'S PORTRAYAL OF INDIA'S TEMPLE DANCERS' ; COMMUNITY, REPERTOIRE, AND AESTHETICS ; SASKIA C. HARI KRISHNAN / 'INSCRIBING PRACTICE: RECONFIGURATIONS AND TEXTUALIZATIONS OF JAVALI' ; ANTI-NAUTCH REVISITED ; MUTHULAKSHMI REDDI / 'WHY SHOULD THE DANCING: WHEN THE INDIAN WOMEN'S MOVEMENT WENT AFTER THE DEVADASIS' ; PART CENTURY MADRAS ; V. RAGHAVAN (BHAVA RAGA TALA) / 'BHARATA NATYA-CLASSIC INDIAN DANCE: THE SOUTH INDIAN SADIR NAUTCH, THE RECENT CONTROVERSY OVER THE T. BALASARASWATI / 'BHARATA NATYAM' ; MATHEW HARP ALLEN / 'REWRITING THE SCRIPT FOR SOUTH INDIAN DANCE' ; ANNE-MARIE GASTON / 'DANCE AND THE HINDU WOMAN: BHARATANATYAM RE-RITUALIZED' ; PART III: CONTEMPORARY EXTENSIONS ; TRANSNATIONAL INTERPRETER' ; ANDREE GRAU / 'POLITICAL ACTIVISM AND SOUTH SARABHAI / 'CREATIONS' ; AVANTHI MEDURI / 'BHARATHA NATYAM: WHAT ARE YOU?' ; SHOBANA JEYASINGH / 'GETTING OFF THE ORIENT EXPRESS' ; CHANDRALEKHA /
