Indian Dance Criticism as Decolonial Post-Performance Performative

This paper examines dance reviews of transnational performances of Indian male dancers Uday Shankar and Ram Gopal from the 1930s to the 1950s. Throughout, this research seeks to contribute to methods for decolonizing dance criticism by advocating for embodied spectatorship as well as evaluation that...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Dance chronicle 2024-05, Vol.47 (2), p.185-213
Main Author: Venkat Raman, Priya
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Dance criticism
decolonial nationalism
decolonial spectatorship
Decolonization
Gopal, Gum
Hegemony
Indian dance criticism
Performance theory
rasaic spectatorship
Shankar, Uday
Traditions
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Summary:This paper examines dance reviews of transnational performances of Indian male dancers Uday Shankar and Ram Gopal from the 1930s to the 1950s. Throughout, this research seeks to contribute to methods for decolonizing dance criticism by advocating for embodied spectatorship as well as evaluation that challenges hegemony by validating classical traditions and innovative artistry. Western and Indian critics savored the rasa, meaning the flavor of the performances, and criticism reactivated the felt or sensorial experience in what I term post-performance performative. In India, anti-Orientalist criticism reclaimed traditions that critics in Europe and the United States had dismissed as irrational and unprogressive.
ISSN:0147-2526
1532-4257
DOI:10.1080/01472526.2024.2309037