UCLA UCLA Electronic Theses and Dissertations Title Constructing Diasporic Identity Through Kathak Dance: Flexibility, Fixity, and Nationality in London and Los Angeles Permalink https://escholarship.org/uc/item/8st886mh Author Saraswat, Shweta Publication Date 2019 Peer reviewed|Thesis/dissertation eScholarship.org Powered by the California Digital Library University of California UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA Los Angeles Constructing Diasporic Identity Through Kathak Dance: Flexibility, Fixity, and Nationality in London and Los Angeles A dissertation submitted in partial satisfaction of the requirements for the degree Doctor of Philosophy in Culture and Performance by Shweta Saraswat 2019 © Copyright by Shweta Saraswat 2019 ABSTRACT OF THE DISSERTATION Constructing Diasporic Identity Through Kathak Dance: Flexibility, Fixity, and Nationality in London and Los Angeles by Shweta Saraswat Doctor of Philosophy in Culture and Performance University of California, Los Angeles, 2019 Professor Anurima Banerji, Chair This dissertation focuses on the role of the classical Indian dance form Kathak in negotiating questions of cultural identity and national affiliation among members of the Indian diaspora residing in London, UK, and Los Angeles, USA. This study considers how institutional actions and discourses related to the practice of Kathak dance in these two cities and the personal experiences of dancers themselves reflect certain political, aesthetic, and social values that impact the formation of diasporic identity. The dissertation argues that Indian diasporic subjects negotiate a fundamental tension through their practice of Kathak dance: the tension between Kathak’s inherent flexibility and contextual conditions of fixity. ii As described in Chapter 1, Kathak’s inherent flexibility refers to certain foundational elements of the dance that center around creative interpretation, improvisation, and immersive practice (riyaaz), as well as the expression of multiple identities that these foundational elements enable. A discourse of Kathak’s flexibility frames the dancer’s transcendence and/or transformation of socially assigned identifications as an act of aesthetic virtuosity with cross- cultural significance. However, the transformative potential of Kathak’s flexibility is limited by contextual conditions of fixity that include material and discursive frameworks that fix Kathak to singular narratives of Indian nationalism and curtail the breadth of flexible identifications for both the dance and its dancers. The crystallization of Kathak as a classical dance by the Indian government in the post-independence era and the position of Kathak within a globalized regime of affect that essentializes the dance as a marker of Indian national identity have contributed to fixing Kathak dance as a practice upholding dominant Indian cultural narratives and logics. Forces of flexibility and fixity affect both the dancer and the dance form; this study looks at the identity negotiations of the dancer alongside the adaptive shifts of the dance form to illuminate the transformative effects of both flexibility and fixity over time and place. By laying out Kathak’s flexible potential against the limiting conditions of fixity, this dissertation explores two dominant strategies that shape Kathak discourse and practice towards different socio-political ends: the heritage model and the integrative model, both of which encompass different alignments of dance repertoire, pedagogy, and political strategy by dancers and institutions. As described in Chapter 2, the heritage model practice of Kathak aims to empower Indian diasporic subjects by underscoring their difference from the dominant British or American classes and enforcing hegemonic notions of Indianness through a fixed practice of Kathak. Drawing from Annette Weiner’s work on inalienable possessions, this study offers a iii new theory that casts Kathak in the heritage model as an inalienable practice ontologically tied to a singularized Indian national identity, Hindu practice, and idealized, often patriarchal guru- shishya (teacher-student) lineages. Conversely, the integrative model frames Kathak as a tool for intercultural encounters, utilizing the dance’s inherent flexibility to create new pathways for Kathak dance and dancers to enter and/or converse with British and American national culture. As described and complicated in Chapter 3, these include an exploration of individuality through original choreographies and creative interpretation, a conscious development of new points of access for audiences, an insertion of Kathak into nationally relevant public spaces, an engagement with multi-ethnic dancers, and an adoption of Western contemporary aesthetics. Grounded in multi-year fieldwork in the Kathak communities of Los Angeles and London, this interdisciplinary project brings together institutional case studies, choreographic analysis of Kathak techniques and compositions, ethnographic field notes, and data from individual interviews together with theories from critical dance studies, cultural anthropology, and cultural geography. It highlights Kathak dance as an aesthetic and political praxis to illuminate the processual nature of constructing cultural and national identity in the Indian diaspora. iv The dissertation of Shweta Saraswat is approved. Susan Leigh Foster Janet M. O’Shea Lionel Arthur Popkin Anurima Banerji, Committee Chair University of California, Los Angeles 2019 v This dissertation is dedicated to the memory of Professor Polly Nooter Roberts, a woman of grace, strength, and limitless love. Thank you, Polly. vi Constructing Diasporic Identity Through Kathak Dance: Flexibility, Fixity, and Nationality in London and Los Angeles Table of Contents Abstract of Dissertation ii Acknowledgements viii Vita xiii Introduction 1 Setting the Stage: Kathak Dance in the Diaspora Chapter 1 69 Flexibility and Fixity in Kathak Chapter 2 124 Fixing Kathak Dance Through the Heritage Model Chapter 3 178 Kathak “Flexes” in the Integrative Model Conclusion 230 Shifting Ground: Kathak as Political and Aesthetic Praxis Appendix A 236 References 239 vii Acknowledgements First and foremost, I must acknowledge the many men and women whose words and practices make up the foundation of this dissertation. Though there are too many to name, I thank them all for the time they took to speak to me, the honesty they brought to all of our conversations, and the trust they put in me to represent their stories. Nothing in this dissertation matters without the life that these dancers and advocates bring to the practice of Kathak around the world. I hope I have represented their voices with the same integrity and sincerity they bring to their practice of this art form. I would like to particularly thank all the women in London who welcomed me into their dance community with such generosity. In addition to the time they gave for interviews and conversations, these women made me feel at home in a new city by cooking ghar ka khana for me, for sharing space with me in their studios, for dressing me when I had not even a gajra to wear for performances, and who cared for me like a friend, not a researcher. Thank you especially to Dhiya Arora, Deepika Kathrani, Amun Bhachu, Janaki Mehta, Raksha Taylor, Neeraj Sharma, and Suruchi Saxena. Thank you to the staff and volunteers who offered key institutional knowledge and logistical assistance at all the organizations I engaged with over the course of this research, particularly the Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan, London, Akādemi, the Leela Institute for the Arts, the Victoria and Albert Museum, the School for Oriental and African Studies at the University of London, the Southbank Centre, the Sonia Sabri Company, and Kalashram. This project would not have been possible without financial support from the UCLA Graduate Division, the UCLA Department of World Arts and Cultures/Dance (WAC/D), and the UCLA International Institute. viii I must also thank the Alliance for California Traditional Arts and the Getty Museum for employing me even as I worked on this dissertation. These professional opportunities reminded me of the relevance of my research outside of traditional academic settings and a provided a life- giving glimmer of post-Ph.D. life. Thank you to Ann David from the University of Roehampton and Navtej Purewal from SOAS for helping me get situated to the dance scene in London. To Royona Mitra of Brunel University, thank you for not only engaging with my research questions with enthusiasm and encouragement, but for talking deeply with me about how this work is inseparable from our lives and the lives of our loved ones. Thank you also to Pallabi Chakravorty of Swarthmore College, whose seminal research and writing on Kathak dance and modernity served and continues to serve as a model for my research and dance practice. I am very grateful to my incredibly gracious and patient doctoral committee members whose trust spurred me on in shaky times. Thank you to Susan Leigh Foster for her monumental work in the field of dance studies, and for her attention to and validation of my tiny contribution to the field. Thank you to Lionel Popkin for his lively energy and fresh takes on Kathak and choreographic practice. Thank you to Janet O’Shea for stepping on board during a difficult time and for embracing my project with enthusiasm and rigor. And a deep thank you to Al Roberts and Polly Nooter Roberts. In addition to their thoughtful engagement with my research questions, I am most grateful for the simple love I felt from both of them throughout my entire time at WAC/D, and still feel. Thank you both. I have been incredibly lucky to have Anurima Banerji as my committee chair. She has been a model figure for me at a formative time in my life, setting an example of how to approach research and art with rigor and generosity, and how to value one’s own voice. I left every ix meeting with her feeling refreshed, clear, and confident thanks to her patient engagement with all of my ideas, needs, and fears. She first inspired me when I was a vague undergraduate at UCLA back in 2011, showing me a whole world of study that spoke to me on a level that I didn’t think was possible.