of

Indian Dance
Towards Glocalization in dance
Dr Rohini Dandavate

The term ‘glocalization’ originated in the 1980’s from Japanese business practices and
was later popularized by a British sociologist Roland Robertson in the 1990’s.
Glocalization has been defined as adaptation of a product to international markets by
modifying it to fit in the local culture (msn Encarta). Though the roots of glocalization
have been identified in business practices, its effects are seen in every field of human
activity including the field of the arts.
History records that artists around the world have taken inspiration from events,
people and cultures other than their own. One can find numerous examples of inter-
cultural adaptation, integration, fusion, and experimentation in art forms. Artistic
innovations of dancers like Isadora Duncan, Ruth St. Denis, Ted Shawn, and Martha
Graham, were greatly influenced by eastern cultures. In 1905, St. Denis designed an
elaborate and exotic costume and a series of steps telling the story of Radha, a
character from Hindu mythology, who loved the God Krishna. The production, "Radha",
communicated St. Denis' understanding of Indian culture and mythology to American
audiences through dance. Isadora Duncan, in her program "The Dance and Philosophy,"
offered society women dance pieces set to Strauss’ Waltzes and Omar Khayyam's "The
Rubbaiyat".
In India, one is reminded of the choreographic works of Chandralekha, and
Sucheta Chapekar. Chandralekha, the legendary choreographer and student of
renowned Bharatnatyam teacher, Guru Kancheepuram Ellappa Pillai, was known for
reinterpreting classical traditions in dance and developing a unique sequence of
signature movements by blending classical bharanatyam with yoga and kalarippayyat,
the martial arts dance style from Kerala. For example, in her production “Yantra: dance
diagrams,” the perception of beauty is related to an awareness of the body, both in its
spiritual and sexual manifestations, and is expressed through geometrical patterns
created by the dancers, signifying male and female energies. Another production, “Sri,”
explores the multifaceted significance of womanhood in India—from Harappan fertility
images, to Shakti and unity of Prakriti and Purusha, to oppressed woman and the
woman of the new millennium. Dr Sucheta Chapekar, the dancer, dance educator and
research scholar, in her choreography of "Nritya-Ganga," brings together a unique
creative style of performance blending Bharat Natyam, Hindustani music and Marathi
poetry. Another example is the children’s production “Circus” of Kala Vikash Kendra,
Cuttack where in the choreographer Guru Raghunath Dutta uses the Odissi dance
vocabulary in dance sequences to portray the circus animals, the ringmaster and the
clowns.
An exhaustive list of such examples can be drawn of dancers in India and outside,
who have integrated themes, costumes, music forms and languages from diverse
cultures in their choreography. This suggests that cross-cultural borrowing or integrating
was prevalent even before the recent debate about the effects of globalization on dance.
The objective of these choreographers was to innovate, experiment or develop a new
experience for audiences.
The scenario in the present times is different. Besides innovation and
experimentation in the field of dance, there are attempts by dancers to help audiences
relate to diverse creative expressions through the usage of local elements or
experiences with which people are familiar. Much like a McDonald’s hamburger is
adapted to local cultures (i.e. a chicken burger instead of a beef burger in India), dancers
and choreographers are creating dances that can translate into the meaning systems of
their audience, making understanding and appreciating an unfamiliar art form more
enjoyable to foreign audiences. The following dance presentations exemplify this
process:

• Aruna Mohanty’s (Odissi dancer from India) choreography of the fairy tale
"Cinderella", wherein a European text was used with movements from the
Odissi dance technique.
• Menaka Thakkar’s (Indian dancer based in Toronto, Canada) production
“Wise Monkey and Foolish Crocodile” based on one of the Indian Folk
tales and used creative dance movements.
• “Riaz,” a dance choreographed by Natasha Bakht for the Menaka Thakkar
Dance Company, in which the dancer explores the theme of “Riaz”
projecting the internalization and expression of practicing. A piece in
creative movement, it borrows elements from the Bharatnatyam dance
style and focuses on how training, preparation, rehearsal and continual
repetition of practice is the foundation for creation for artists.
 These works fall into the category of fusion or adaptations because each dance
production adapts a local element i.e. the story, or language, or form, which is familiar to
the audiences in the U.S. and Canada, and is not a global product. The aforementioned
examples imply that an artistic activity in the present times is successful when the artist
is able to help audiences to discover, understand, connect, realize and appreciate their
expression by bringing in elements familiar to them. As David Best (1986) says in his
article ‘Culture Consciousness’,

One explores, with humility, the relevant activities of another culture, in

terms of one’s own artistic conceptions. But the other side of the dialectic
is that the new conception may modify one’s own, and thus the terms of
the exploration. Each side may have a progressively critical and enriching
effect on the other (1986, p.87).

Best suggests that the process of exploration in art offers an opportunity to innovate,
understand and add new knowledge both for the dancer and the audience. Dancers
negotiate their art forms and lend themselves to reconciliation and appreciation of
another perspective. In this process of negotiation, the medium of dance evokes a sense
of reflection about one’s own art and also facilitates the communication between dancer
and audience. In my view this process of building cultural understanding through dance
or any other creative medium will gradually lead to the glocalization of dance forms in
global communities. Though Glocalization in dance will pose a challenge of
accommodation for the creator of the art, it will also provide an opportunity to evolve,
add, develop and understand new perspectives and to reach out to wider audiences.

Therefore increasing exposure to dance forms from around the world will lead to
familiarization of the various elements of these dance forms (such as the technique,
movement patterns, rhythm, music, themes, etc). As the dance form or a element of a
dance form becomes familiar universally, artists around the world will create their own
local expressions with the universal elements integrated in their choreography, much like
how rap is being heard in different languages around the world. Similarly this is where
dance will transit from fusion to glocalization. The essential precondition for glocalization
of dance will be globalization of a certain element of a dance form or the form itself.
References:
Abbreviated version of "The Early Moderns" tutorial CD-ROM (Online) Available:
http://www.pitt.edu/~gillis/dance/intro.html

Best, David. (1986). Culture-Consciousness: Understanding the Arts of other Cultures.

Journal of Art and Design 5, (1 & 2) 33-44.