Dancing with tradition: A global community of Odissi dancers
Item
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Title
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Dancing with tradition: A global community of Odissi dancers
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Identifier
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d_2009_2013:0258925874f3:10679
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identifier
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10780
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Creator
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Sikand, Nandini,
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Contributor
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Michael Blim
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Date
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2010
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Language
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English
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Publisher
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City University of New York.
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Subject
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Cultural anthropology | Dance | South Asian studies | Community | Global | India | Nationalism | Odissi
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Abstract
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This dissertation is a multi-sited, ethnographic study conducted from 2005 to 2009 in six cities: Alexandria, VA, Bhubaneswar, Khajuraho, Kolkata, New Delhi, and New York, in two countries, India and the United States, and is centered on the narratives of Odissi dancers, dance gurus, performers, scholars, writers, presenters and institutional officials who have contributed to this changing dance form. By exploring the connections between an embodied practice that has formed at the intersection of colonial discourse, nationalist historiography and regional identity, I explore three fundamental questions: First, what notion of "tradition(s)" guides these practices, and how are they being recreated in a global context? Second, how do Odissi dancers engage with an embodied practice that has its roots in a ritual form, and is now performed nationally and transnationally? Finally, how has Odissi emerged as a cultural product within the context of a global market, since the institution of neoliberal policies in India in the early 90s?;By studying this dance as a globalized phenomenon and practice, rather than a solely regional or historical one, I show Odissi to be a highly-produced, fluid and mobile medium that crosses boundaries, and is continuously reinvented. My argument is two-fold: first, there is a thriving global community of Odissi dancers who practice, teach and perform this dance form all over the world, yet this global community is one marked by broad variance and heterogeneity. Second, the practice of Odissi has changed over years to accommodate new contexts and audiences, and it continues to do so. This change is evident from its history, and is built into the cultural understanding and practice of Odissi as a form of expression, guided by traditions that are characterized more by fluidity, than fixity. The ethnographic findings and historical analysis presented in this study show that for many of these dancers the "performing body" is not only a site of aesthetic expression, but one that manifests myriad positionalities of gender, class and region, as it traverses multiple borders and subjective notions of belonging.
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Type
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dissertation
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Source
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2009_2013.csv
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degree
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Ph.D.
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Program
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Anthropology
