Traditions of Indian Folk Dance

Contents: Preface. Introduction. Hindu Calendar. 1. The Himalayan region: Kashmir, Jammu and Himachal Pradesh. 2. The Hills of Uttar Pradesh : Kumaon and Garhwal. 3. The Hills and valleys of the North-east: Tripura, Manipur, Mizoram, Nagaland, Arunachal Pradesh, Meghalaya. 4. Assam. 5. The Great Plains: Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal. 6. The Plateaux, deltas and the coasts: Bihar, Madhya Pradesh and Orissa. 7. The Desert and the plateaux: Rajasthan, Gujarat and Maharashtra. 8. The Deccan, Eastern and Western Ghats: Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Kerala. Conclusion. Annual calendar. Select reading lists.

When the first edition of Traditions of Indian Folk Dance was released in 1976 it was universally acclaimed as a path breaking work. Why? For the first time it provided a clear conceptual framework for comprehending the seemingly simple, but actually complex, panorama of dance traditions generally classified as folk and tribal. It placed the numerous dance forms in their ecological, regional, linguistic, social and cultural context. By doing so it argued that dance movement and body language are indicators for comprehending and appreciating the multi layered phenomenon of the cultural patterns of India in their pan Indian identity as also local specificity.

The book inspired and guided scholarship over the last three decades. Today when these forms have received attention and are presented in urban milieus and international forums, there is the danger of these forms being decontextualized. The book is an invaluable guide for those who wish to present these forms with authenticity. Besides it has valuable material for social scientists and cultural historians.