Indian Classical Dance Education in Diaspora

Abstract

How can teaching dance in the South Asian diaspora influence dance education in the United States? In this article, I reflect on my foray into the diasporic community as an Indian classical dance educator to provide concrete examples of how this material is translatable in mainstream dance training. By focusing on my training within and teaching of the eastern Indian form called Odissi, I argue that the teaching and learning of postural, gestural, and expressive motifs simultaneously remain culturally embedded within the Indian apprentice-learning model alongside adapting to the needs of changing cultural milieu of the diaspora. From my experiential narratives, I present practical recommendations not only to Indian classical dance educators, but to all dance teachers who, I believe, will benefit from a culturally embedded system of teaching and learning kinesthetic concepts and embodied execution.

Notes

1 I supplement my embodied reflections of diasporic teaching with reflections from my students and peers. I have permission to include brief conversations I have had with some of my current students, ranging from high school teenagers to professionals in the concert dance field, and fellow practitioners and educators regarding their perceptions of dance education.