Indian Modern Dance, Feminism and Transnationalism

Indian Modern Dance, Feminism and Transnationalism examines modern dance in India as it emerged simultaneously and in parallel with European and North American modernism in the twentieth century. Through rare archival photographs and interviews with artists, this volume charts the travels and movements over a hundred-year period (1900–2000) of five Indian artists – Rabindranath Tagore (1861–1941), Uday Shankar (1900–77), Shanti Bardhan (1916–54), Manjusri Chaki Sircar (1934–2000) and Ranjabati Sircar (1963–99) – across and beyond national and international borders. The volume draws attention to the ways in which these transnational journeys significantly impacted on the artists' experimental and political dances and how a clearly feminist consciousness was developed through the dancing body. This book celebrates the revolutionary nature and transformative potential of modern dance within an Indian context.

Prarthana Purkayastha is Lecturer in Theatre and Performance at Plymouth University, UK. Her previous publications include articles in journals such as Studies in South Asian Film and Media, Dance Research Journal and South Asia Research.

Introduction
1. Rabindranath Tagore and Eclecticism in Twentieth Century Indian Dance
2. Uday Shankar and the Performance of Alterity in Indian Dance 
3. Shanti Bardhan and Dance as Protest
4. Manjusri Chaki Sircar and Feminist New Dance
5. Ranjabati Sircar and the Politics of Identity in Indian Dance
Conclusions
Notes
References
Index