Towards a Human Rights History of Bharatanatyam

For her capstone project, Shikha Srinivas wrote a personal and historical series outlining the modern practice of Bharatanatyam in South Asia, primarily India, and the role of Devasi or women who joined temple dance communities and passed down a variety of now “classical” dance forms from Southern India. Drawing on her fourteen years of experience as a Bharatanatyam dancer, Shikha explored the nuanced relationship between dance, culture, and identity and examined many other components such as religion, caste, class, colonialism, capitalism, and gender that shape who this dance form belonged to, who controlled its history, and who gets to practice now. With this project, Shikha hopes to shed light on the ways dance and artistic expression is informed by political, social, and gendered structures, as well as personal narratives and experiences.

Student project deposited by department for archival purposes. Original work unavailable for public download due to permission restriction preferences of the author.