India has a long tradition, both textual and oral, of producing knowledge about the art-ritual-practice of dance. As new methods of understanding, analysing and teaching emerge, new thinking and investigation is required to show how dance is a foundational socio-cultural development that is local and global, critical and emotional, personal and political. This anthology makes a dramatic shift from established narratives of dance history and practice to bring to the forefront debates on history aesthetics, identity, and globalisation, embedded and embodied in and through dance. It thus catapults dance into the vortex of debates in social theory, and reflects its multidtmensional aspects by locating it within anthropology, art history, and religious, postcolonial, and feminist studies. This expansion of the discourse on Indian dance infuses the global with local voices, issues, and concerns. The articles attempt to look at dance as a lived and practiced phenomenon in contemporary times. They are unique in that they bring together the thoughts and experiences of both theorists and practitioners, and examine how the meaning and significance of dance has shifted in changing historical and political regimes. Discussing dance in many of its manifestations - contemporary and historical, classical and folk, commercial and aesthetic - the book seeks to understand this form of human expression that has remained curiously under-explored in academic discourse.

Academics and students of cultural studies, fine arts and history, and especially dance departments and institutes will find this useful. Book jacket.