‘Contemporary Indian Dance - New Creative Choreography in India and the Diaspora,’
by Ketu H Katrak, as part of Studies in International Performance Series edited by
Janelle Reinelt and Brian Singleton, published by Palgrave Macmillan, NY, 2011.
Contemporary dance is a much-maligned form and name in some of the circles I move in. Many staunch traditionalists I know jokingly call it "Kandapadi dance" ("any- which-way dance"). Some of the reasons for this dismissal are rooted in the fact that the label "Contemporary Dance" is invoked in very loose and catch-all kind of ways. Once, I watched a piece of contemporary dance set to the much-abused, mediocre song from the film 'Titanic': "Every night in my dreams..." where the dancer really moved any-which- way suited her. Then there was a recent moment when a bunch of dancers in quasi- Bharatanatyam attire spiced up with diaphanous dupattas did kuditthu-mettu adavus, with all their ankle bells resounding across the auditorium, to a movement from Tchaikovsky. To be fair to the program, it was not announced as contemporary dance, but later I heard the dancers refer to it as "the contemporary section."
Contemporary dance is a much-maligned form and name in some of the circles I move in. Many staunch traditionalists I know jokingly call it "Kandapadi dance" ("any- which-way dance"). Some of the reasons for this dismissal are rooted in the fact that the label "Contemporary Dance" is invoked in very loose and catch-all kind of ways. Once, I watched a piece of contemporary dance set to the much-abused, mediocre song from the film 'Titanic': "Every night in my dreams..." where the dancer really moved any-which- way suited her. Then there was a recent moment when a bunch of dancers in quasi- Bharatanatyam attire spiced up with diaphanous dupattas did kuditthu-mettu adavus, with all their ankle bells resounding across the auditorium, to a movement from Tchaikovsky. To be fair to the program, it was not announced as contemporary dance, but later I heard the dancers refer to it as "the contemporary section."
Nice review. Would love to read the book but it is incredibly expensive for an India purse :) Wish there will be a less expensive Asian paperback edition soon.
ReplyDeleteNice Book about the Indian Classical dances and Other Indian Dances.Thanks a lot for sharing, Please Keep it carry on.
ReplyDelete