I mentioned in my last post that dance was really important to the Delhi students and, gradually, it became important for me too through this cross-cultural experience. I also mentioned that I would post some images and videos later, so here they are!
The students of Delhi university organised a talent-show towards the end of the ‘College-on-Wheels’ trip in order to showcase different Indian dances for us Brits. The girl in the video and in the image on the left is my friend Roshnee performing an Odissi inspired dance (click here for an example – dancer starts at 1.17). Although a Delhite, her parents are originally from the state of Odisha (named Orissa previously), where this dance originates from. She gained admittance to Delhi University because of her advanced level of Odissi, much like how many US Institutions grant sport-scholarships. To me, this is a clear example of Dance’s central place in cultural and intellectual institutions in India.
In a ‘Whatsapp’ message, I asked her why she chose to focus on this dance form as opposed to any other and she responded by saying that she dances because it helps her remain connected or rooted to her family’s region, and is a response to Delhi’s ever-growing and ever-changing society. I thought this particularly interesting because, although the dance shown above is performed in the context of celebrating India’s heritage, it seems to also appreciate the interaction, or mixing, of styles and cultural practices that are not just from within India.
The male dancer is Roshnee’s friend, and he studies English Literature and is particularly keen on European dance styles. I think that the European and Classical Indian choreography works very well in the hybridity it displays. The dance doesn’t just highlight differences between a traditionally European dance style and a traditional Indian one, but emphasises similarities or synchronies that can exist between two supposedly very different art forms in the way the two dancers have coordinated their postures and movements. The dance showed me that although we often talk about the ‘homogenisation’ of culture which globalisation leads to there are cases where this sensationalised fear of a spreading ‘Western’ culture is ill-founded. Here, ‘Eastern’ and ‘Western’ traditions are working alongside each other, creating a new aesthetic – a new blend of culture – which is not just half- this and half- that (or ‘Westernised’ or ‘homogenised’) but an intertwined whole. Surely, the creation of new possibilities in cultural expression is a benefit of globalisation?
Finally, to give something back to the Indian students who had spent so long preparing the talent-show, the Edinburgh students we were travelling with rounded the evening off with this:
Even in Britain, dance and music seem to capture regional diversities, and both music and dance are being used in this video to express a cultural ‘uniqueness’ to ‘others’.
College on Wheels 