Reflections of Dance Along the Brahmaputra : Celebrating Dance in North East India

This volume brings a critical lens to dance and culture within North East India. Through case studies, first-hand accounts, and interviews, it explores unique folk dances of Indigenous communities of North East India that reflect diverse journeys, lifestyles, and connections within their ethnic groups, marking almost every ritual and festival. Dance for people of North East India, as elsewhere, is also a way of declaring, establishing, celebrating, and asserting humans' relationship with nature. The book draws attention to the origins and special circumstances of dances from North East India. It discusses a range of important folk-dance forms alongside classical dance forms in North East India, with a focus on Sattriya dance. The chapters examine how these dance forms play an important role in the region’s socio-cultural, economic, and political life, intertwining religion and the arts through music, dance, and drama. Further, they also explore how folk dance cultures in North East India have never been relegated to the background, never considered secondary, aesthetically, or otherwise, but have become expressions of political and cultural identity. An evocative work, this volume will be of interest to students and researchers of pedagogy, choreography, community dance practice, theatre and performance studies, social and cultural studies, aesthetics, interdisciplinary arts, and more. It will be an invaluable resource for artists and practitioners working in dance schools and communities. Cover Half Title Series Page Title Page Copyright Page Table of Contents List of figures List of contributors Preface Author’s note Acknowledgements Glossary Introduction Chapter 1 Glimpses of the dance world of North-East India Chapter 2 Sattriya dance: A narrative of its journey through the ages Chapter 3 Moving objects and thinking body: A dancer’s narrative Chapter 4 Discovering Sannidhi/a confluence: A dance exchange between Assam and Aotearoa, New Zealand Chapter 5 Kherai’s dance world: Promoting solidarity and tradition Chapter 6 The dance and the dancers: Tradition and innovation within the indigenous performances of the ritual dance of the Hudum Deo Chapter 7 Identity revivalism through folk dances amongst the tribal communities of Assam Chapter 8 Bihu performance of the Morans of Assam Chapter 9 Social media and the politics of dance Chapter 10 Gender and dance: “Gazing” at the Doudini and the female Sattriya and Bihuwoti dancers Chapter 11 Reflections on dance education workshops in Assam: Towards critical and creative thinking Chapter 12 Echoing the rhythm: Voices of school dance teachers Chapter 13 Dancers’ voices Chapter 14 Dance through the performers’ lens Chapter 15 Studio dance teachers’ journeys Chapter 16 The performers of folk dances Index