Indian Classical Dance and the Making of Postcolonial National Identities ― Dancing on Empire's Stage

Previous studies have analysed Indian classical dance as an expression of Indian religious and nationalist culture, examining the art form solely in the context of Indian history and culture. In investigating performances of Indian classical dance in the UK it is possible to argue that classical Indian dance has become a key aspect of the mutual constitution of not only postcolonial Indian and South Asia diasporic identities, but also of British multicultural and transnational identity.

Indian Classical Dance and the Making of Postcolonial National Identities explores what happens when national cultural production is reproduced outside the immediate social, political and cultural context of its construction. The chapters in this volume addresses the questions:

• What is the relation between the contemporary performance of Indian classical dance and the constitution of national, diasporic and multicultural identity?
• Where/how does Indian dance derive its productive power in the postcolonial moment?
• How do diasporic and nationalist representations of Indian culture intersect with depictions of British culture and politics?

Based on an extensive ethnographic study of performances of Indian classical dance in the UK, this book should be of interest to scholars of anthropology, sociology, South Asian studies, Postcolonial, Transnational and Cultural studies and Theatre and Performance studies.