This paper examines the work of Kashmiri theatre-maker Arshad Mushtaq in the context of the political turmoil in Kashmir. It argues that Mushtaq's theatre practice challenges the India's attempt to assimilate Kashmir into its national cultural framework. Focusing on three of Mushtaq's plays rooted in collective memory, the paper examines how his…

This article elucidates a pedagogical formulation delineating the collaborative, relational, and process-oriented nature of viewing dance as a practice-as-research (PaR) enquiry emanating in the field of South Asian Dance Studies. Being an "Odissi" practitioner, an Indian classical dance form from the eastern Indian state of Odisha, I…

This paper employs an autobiographical approach to reflect on some limitations of conventional academic conferences in creating community and supporting deep learning. By and large conventional large conferences tend to be premised on what Brazilian educator Paulo Freire calls the banking model of education and therefore frequently reproduce…

In this essay, I explore the genre of live comedy outside its traditional Western setting in popular and academic understanding. I argue that its ever-growing popularity in urban India is reflective of an expanding middle-class's search for an authentic social identity. I demonstrate -- through ethnographic and analytical detail -- how stand-up…

This paper analyses the theatre experiments of Badungduppa theatre (Assam, India). This theatre group is made up of tribal 'Rabha' community actors, a director, and theatre workers, and it incorporates the forgotten aesthetics of the community into its theatre practice and actor training. Over time, the Rabha community has been exploited by the…

In Kashmir, where the act of performing a script-based play on a proscenium stage is still seen by many as a controversial gesture, "Cages" involved the devised creation of a site responsive and immersive performance that placed two spectators, literally, in the shoes of an(Other). The potential of these forms of spectatorship, as…

This article examines a 10-year long series of annual short-term interventions with young people living in Dharavi (India) that has led to a number of public theatre events. The partnership offers a unique training experience to students from the UK in theatre facilitation, and a regular opportunity to participate in theatre for young people in…

This paper analyses "Bharatanatyam on Wheels" by Ability Unlimited Foundation, Delhi. It interrogates the possibilities and challenges that disability performance presents to codifications in the form and grammar of "Bharatanatyam," a "classical" dance form of India. The Indian classical scriptures of performance…

In this article, the author examines how a pedagogical and creative practice in one school for lowest-caste girls in Lucknow, India, is harnessing the imaginative affordances of theater--in particular, its ensemble-building and its capacity to hold the present open for investigation--to leverage these practices for understanding the political…

Theatre occupies a significant place in any revolutionary political strategy that has as its objective a radical transformation of society. This paper attempts to make a thematic and structural analysis of the Malayalam street play "Kalyanasaugadhikam" written by Anil Nadakavu in 2009 and performed by Manisha Theatres, Thadiyankovil,…

"E(Lab)orating Performance" is a transnational collaborative teaching and learning project involving Massey University (New Zealand), University of Cape Town (South Africa), UWC Mahindra College (India), and University of the Witwatersrand (South Africa). The project was devised to facilitate creative engagements between students and…

The publication recounts two symposiums on Arts Education that took place in Hong Kong and New Delhi, India in January 2004 and March 2005 respectively. Two sections include papers covering the current situation of arts education in Asia and plans for the future. The first part has an introduction to culture and arts education in Asia, the vision…