FUSE#1

Element# 1.2
Post-Colonial
Tactics
Ruminations on
asiaNness & Dance
by Nirmala Seshadri
What is at stake? I would say (from my observations and experiences in the field):
equality
funding
Inclusion, visibility
professionalisation
freedom from cultural custodianship, and from cultural essentialism
Granted that at this point in time, traditional arts are being given a boost in funding
and support. But we still need to ask ‘what is at stake here?’ The use of the term
‘traditional art’ carries in it notions of ‘the unchanging’, ‘reproduction’,
‘perpetuation’ rather than questioning of status quo and pushing of boundaries.
The freedom to create and express oneself authentically - these are at stake.
In Singapore the classical Indian dancer (whether aware of it or not) exists at the
intersection of multiple agendas - cultural essentialism, collective nostalgia for an
imagined homeland, exoticism, multiculturalism, overt emphasis on religiosity, as
well as Indian nationalism that is increasingly mobile.
Anthropologist Sitara Thobani highlights that “It is in the transnational context that
essentialized constructions of India are further cemented, leading to the
strengthening of ideas regarding coherence, uniformity and impermeability of Indian
culture” (2017, 105).
In my opinion, the current categorisation of the Asian hinders authentic expression
and true inclusivity. However, questioning and rejecting the way in which the
category is now occupied might unleash its emancipatory potential.
3 What are some choreographic strategies to circumnavigate the
landscapes of aesthetics, politics and/or the arts market, which
remains significantly dominated by the West?
As historian Prasenjit Duara points out, there is a need to view Asian-ness not as
a constant/fixed region but instead as a process of regionalisation, thus
“distinguishing between the relatively unplanned or evolutionary emergence of an
area of interaction and interdependence as a region and the more active, often
ideologically driven political process of creating a region, or regionalization” (2010,
963). Dance as it is employed today buys into the imaginary construction of
Asian-ness. Dance is one site on which the negotiation of Asian-ness takes place.
Viewing it as a process means that it can be done differently - it can be reshaped
actively and consciously.
Choreographic strategies would include:
1.
Choreographing Asian within the framework of cultural heritage and in
solidarity with the networks that support this strategy. My own
choreographic journey began with this strategy but I gradually found it
more and more difficult to subscribe to the power structures of
Bharatanatyam that is governed by rules of purity and appropriateness.
The lack of right to choice in the personal and artistic spheres became an area I
needed to address - after all, both belonged to the same patriarchal cultural
paradigm. Equating a male lover with God became problematic for me as a
dancer as it implied the superiority and deification of the human male. This created
a conflict within me both in art and in my life, which I sought to examine through
my choreographic process. I needed to address the gender imbalances in my
socio-cultural context and search for more empowering images of womanhood,
both in dance and in life. The questions and unrest in my mind were expressed in
my choreographic works. The fact that I faced these conflicts woke me up to the
restrictions of the silos. There was a need for Indian dance to grow to reflect lived
realities of women. But it could not grow as long as imposed, essentialised
Asian-ness required it to look a particular way.
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