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Devadasi Dance in South India: An Interdisciplinary Symposium

Saturday, June 9, 2007
1:00pm
Robert Gill Theatre, University of Toronto
214 College Street (At northwest corner of College and St. George)
3rd floor

Free Admission
To register online click here.

Or call (416) 268-4746 or email indance@sympatico.ca

inDANCE, one of Canada’s premiere South Asian dance companies, presents Devadasi Dance in South India: An Interdisciplinary Symposium at the Robert Gill Theatre (University of Toronto). This symposium, the first of its kind in North America, examines various historical and aesthetic transformations of dance in South India over the last two centuries, and brings together an incredible group of distinguished academics and dance professionals from UK, India, USA and Canada. It promises to be a stimulating afternoon of talks, videos, and lecture-demonstrations on dance traditions from South India.
Exploring the complex history and rich artistry of South India’s hereditary dance The symposium brings together eminent scholars and practitioners from around the world, including

Panel Moderator: Michael Crabb, Dance Critic and Writer, Toronto

Dr. B.M. Sundaram, Music and Dance Scholar, Thanjavur, India

Dr. Anne-Marie Gaston, Cultural Horizons, Ottawa

Dr. Avanthi Meduri, Roehampton University, London, U.K.

Vidya Narayan, Brihadisha, Chicago, USA

Dr. Srividya Natarajan, University of Western Ontario, London

Dr. Leslie Orr, Concordia University, Montreal

Dr. Janet O’Shea, Middlesex University, London, U.K.

Dr. Indira Viswanathan Peterson, Mount Holyoke College, Massachusetts, USA

Dr. Davesh Soneji, McGill University, Montreal
Curated by Hari Krishnan (Artistic Director, inDANCE)
Saturday, June 9, 2007

1:00 pm until 5:30 pm

Robert Gill Theatre, University of Toronto

3rd Floor, 214 College Street (College and St. George; use the St. George Street entrance)

The symposium also features an exhibition of rare photographs of celebrated early twentieth-century devadasi artists. Free Admission for more information please visit

www.indance.ca

Until around 1930, dance in South India was performed only by women from a particular community called devadasi (literally “servant of God”). These women were courtesans who danced in temples, royal courts and at salon performances hosted by elite families. With the advent of colonialism and Victorian morality, devadasis were dislodged from the public sphere in a complex process enabled by Indian social reformers. The dance traditions of the devadasi performers were eventually re-worked into the “national Indian classical dance” called Bharata Natyam. For many years, inDANCE has been a world-leader in attempts to uncover the performance practices and social histories of devadasis. This symposium will include presentations on a range of topical issues, including the social, economic and cultural disenfranchisement of devadasi communities; social stigma and methodological issues in research with devadasi communities; devadasi performance culture; and future directions.

Date & Time and Location
Date
Saturday, June 9, 2007

Time
1:00 pm – 5:30 pm

Location
Robert Gill Theatre, University of Toronto
214 College Street (At northwest corner of College and St. George)
3rd floor
Toronto, Ontario
Canada