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 * "Traditional Indian Dance and the Making of Interpretive Communities.** By Janet O'Shea. __Asian Theatre Journal__, Spring 1998. 15.1. pp 45-63.

It so happens that an essayist in the process of obtaining a PhD in the study of Dance is not limited in scope to the perfection of dance technique! - In her article "Traditional Indian Dance and the Making of Interpretive Communities", author Janet O'Shea very poignantly examines socio-political interactions involved with the development of two distinct communities of //bharata natyam// performance//.// With much literary grace, she furbishes her experience in having studied Indian dance, along with an inherently feminine take on history, to produce a fantastically informative and colorful piece on the juxtaposed //bharata natyam// schools of Indian dance and the details of how the schism between the schools exists. This article examines the contrasts between the //kalakshetra// style of //bharata natyam// and the //devadasi// style. The //kalakshetra// style is set forth as a modern form of this traditional dance form falling from the influence of //Rukmini Devi//, an upperclass Brahman woman (born circa 1910) who, having studied ballet in Europe for some years and embraced Western culture yet amidst a movement of Indian nationalism, encouraged a reviving and purification of the traditional artform. At the time of her developments, //bharata natyam// was renowned as a court dance performed by a community referred to as the devadasi, a community of women apart from Hinduism with a generational heritage of the king-merited positions of dancers; however, during the 1900's the //devadasi// suffered persecution as they were deemed by Hindus and anti-Nautch activists as immoral - the //devadasi// were excluded from Hindu and Indian restrictions upon women (eg. their freedom of movement to travel, lifting of requirement to commit oneself to one man for life). Indeed, one of the major points promoted by //Rukmini Devi// towards the //kalekshetra// style was a need to do away with //sringara// - expressions of eroticism in the dance form, thereby purifying it, while the //devadasi//, as led by //Balasaraswati// argued //sringara//'s critical role of characteristically authenticating the artform itself. Ms O'Shea, a PhD candidate at the University of California at the time of this particular writing, encompasses the roles of political forces and pressures upon the formation of two distinct doctrines concerning the traditional Indian dance form of //bharata natyam// with fresh neutrality to each side; she thereby presents great illucidation of both points of view. Nationalism, as set forth by Hindus, the emerged upperclassmen of Indian society in the 1930's, frowned upon the //devadasi// school; the //devadasi// 1)were outside of Hindu religious doctrinization, and 2) constituted unwelcomed cultural diversity. The Anti-Nautch movement, a British movement to eradicate the entire dance form, certainly did not encourage either the //devadasi// or the //kalakshetra// styles. The British Protestants did not favor the //devadasi// for their laxity as counterposed to the rigidity of the role-model, upperclass, religiously pure British woman. For these reasons, the author sets forth that, the //kalakshetra// school was able to root and spring forward: //Rukmini Devi// had married a Brit, she was a middle/upperclass woman, she propagandized her idea of a form of chastity, and she removed the bounds of the devadasi community as the sole practitioners of //bharat natyam//. The audience of this article is obviously of the the academic sort, especially an international academic audience, as no actual patronage is very much given to either side of the central persistent argument had between the groups as to which style of dance is the more authentic. (Despite Western culture-influenced omissions and substitions of dance moves, the //kalakshetra// supporters propose that the //kalakshetra// style is closer to the more ancient forms of Indian dance, and thus more authentic. Conversely, the //devadasi// maintain their very historically legitimate right to the authority, and hence authencity, of that particular dance itself, the //bharata natyam//. In reading the article, appreciation of both points of view is gained: if the //bharata natyam// danceform had not been taken over by the kalakshetra dancers, preservation of the artform could have failed - the anti-Nautch movement may have done away with the it altogether. Nonetheless, if the devadasi dancers did not continue, then the preservation of the artform would have failed, at least to the extent that it carries on the same antique style of Tanjore court performances of the 19th and 20th centuries. The article does much for incorporating elements of other studies, e.g. sociology, psychology, into the arena of dance appreciation. Forasmuch as the author mentions the tendency of one culture to borrow from another in the creation of a new thing to be had of its own culture, the writing sparks possibilities of developments in academia. Perhaps one day, there will be courses available that explore the psychology of theatrical performance, or at least a dedication to the psychology of performing artists. No such course is presently offered at UGA beyond a more general focus of "The Psychology of the Workplace."

Elicia Jones University of Georgia Theatre 4400, Dr. Richmond Spring 2011