The Bharatanatyam Body : Spectacularization as a Style in Bharatanatyam Aesthetics, 1930 to 2020
出版項
2020
說明
1 online resource (257 pages)
文字
text
無媒介
computer
成冊
online resource
附註
Source: Dissertations Abstracts International, Volume: 82-05, Section: A
Advisor: Venkatesan, Archana
Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of California, Davis, 2020
Includes bibliographical references
This dissertation is grounded in my position as a research practitioner and all the observations, analysis and discourse foregrounds that position. It traces the history of Bharatanatyam aesthetics between 1930 to 2020 through the lens of spectacularization. At the outset, I join other scholars in challenging the 'mythopoetic' history of Bharatanatyam that claims an unbroken legacy of dance aesthetics by tracing it to temple sculptures and Sanskrit texts dating back two thousand years. I suggest this history is intended to further cultural nationalism. I develop this line of critique by studying photographs, videos, written accounts and reviews of performances in the past hundred years that reveal radical changes in Bharatanatyam aesthetics. I argue that the lure of spectacularization steers the direction of these changes. The inequities in caste, class, gender, sexuality and religion play a vital role in shaping this spectacle on the female Bharatanatyam dancer furthering a heterosexual normative. I analyze the history of spectacularization across three periods - 1930 to 1960; 1960 to 2000; and 2000 to the present. I argue that anti-colonial nationalism, globalization, and neoliberalism are three major drivers of change during these three periods. The journey of Bharatanatyam aesthetics is also a history of rupture and loss. The current neoliberal sentiment captured by the volatility of social media disciplines the body of the Bharatanatyam dancer, forcing it to align with a global aesthetic. The dancer is evaluated in accordance with a global aesthetic standard largely driven by western tastes rather than her connection to a nebulous, distant, regional practice of female hereditary dancers in South India. I situate this research on the aesthetic history of Bharatanatyam as a critical moment in my journey as a practitioner. Moreover, it shall direct my future practice as a teacher, collaborator, and dancer in how I engage with the community and devise ethical methods for reclaiming lost aspects of its aesthetics
Electronic reproduction. Ann Arbor, Mich. : ProQuest, 2021
