BEGIN:VCALENDAR VERSION:2.0 PRODID:-//jEvents 2.0 for Joomla//EN CALSCALE:GREGORIAN METHOD:PUBLISH BEGIN:VTIMEZONE TZID:Europe/Paris BEGIN:STANDARD DTSTART:20240203T101500 RDATE:20240331T030000 TZOFFSETFROM:+0200 TZOFFSETTO:+0100 TZNAME:Europe/Paris CET END:STANDARD BEGIN:STANDARD DTSTART:20241027T020000 RDATE:20250330T030000 TZOFFSETFROM:+0200 TZOFFSETTO:+0100 TZNAME:Europe/Paris CET END:STANDARD BEGIN:STANDARD DTSTART:20251026T020000 RDATE:20260329T030000 TZOFFSETFROM:+0200 TZOFFSETTO:+0100 TZNAME:Europe/Paris CET END:STANDARD BEGIN:STANDARD DTSTART:20261025T020000 RDATE:20270328T030000 TZOFFSETFROM:+0200 TZOFFSETTO:+0100 TZNAME:Europe/Paris CET END:STANDARD BEGIN:STANDARD DTSTART:20271031T020000 RDATE:20280326T030000 TZOFFSETFROM:+0200 TZOFFSETTO:+0100 TZNAME:Europe/Paris CET END:STANDARD BEGIN:DAYLIGHT DTSTART:20240331T030000 RDATE:20241027T020000 TZOFFSETFROM:+0100 TZOFFSETTO:+0200 TZNAME:Europe/Paris CEST END:DAYLIGHT BEGIN:DAYLIGHT DTSTART:20250330T030000 RDATE:20251026T020000 TZOFFSETFROM:+0100 TZOFFSETTO:+0200 TZNAME:Europe/Paris CEST END:DAYLIGHT BEGIN:DAYLIGHT DTSTART:20260329T030000 RDATE:20261025T020000 TZOFFSETFROM:+0100 TZOFFSETTO:+0200 TZNAME:Europe/Paris CEST END:DAYLIGHT BEGIN:DAYLIGHT DTSTART:20270328T030000 RDATE:20271031T020000 TZOFFSETFROM:+0100 TZOFFSETTO:+0200 TZNAME:Europe/Paris CEST END:DAYLIGHT END:VTIMEZONE BEGIN:VEVENT UID:df1c80a15ec82172ec58453e68134f9e CATEGORIES:Séminaire du CREM CREATED:20241007T141111 SUMMARY:Gendered Dependence: Non-Binary Notions of Sexuality in Indian Art and Performance, Ann David LOCATION:Lesc – salle 308F (3e étage) - 21\, allée de l’Université\, Nanterre\, \, 9 2000\, France DESCRIPTION:Going beyond the usual concepts of dependency relationships located within a post-colonial state, this new research project examines in greater depth how Indian conceptions of the body (depicted in art, iconography and in per formance) have been impacted by a moral, religious Western perspective impo sed before, during and post-colonial rule. My recent focus on gay male danc er Ram Gopal, the subject of a recently published monograph (2024), investi gates a fascinating man who worked his way through a complex tangle of crit ical contemporary problems as a gay Asian male dancer in London and Europe at a time when myriad and relevant cultural shifts were in progress. Tackli ng issues of gender and coloniality, the book is a critical beginning to th e new research.\nThe ‘moralising projects of colonial and post-colonial mod ernity’ as Davesh Soneji has termed them remain part of the ‘unfinished pas ts’ (2012: 3) of both the place and enactment of performative ritual and pe rformance in India, from the roles of the female temple dancers, the devada si, through to the itinerant folk dance and theatrical performers, and the ‘third gender’ or transgender performers – the hirijas and kothis. In these cases, there is what I call a ‘double dependency’ that emerges firstly fro m the all-powerful colonial project and secondly, in the India that develop s in post-colonial times from the new, fervent nationalism that reinforces in part, a Victorian morality and disgust for bodily performance, recreatin g the dance forms through a prism of purity and respectability. In complex ways, these systems created cultures of dependency where aspects of inclusi on and exclusion were normative ways of behaviour.\nIn terms of contemporar y practice, a number of Indian dancers in India, in the UK and elsewhere ar e now attempting to re-inscribe and re-create artistic forms connected with traditional Indian forms of gender and sexuality (devadasis, hijras, etc.) in a radically different context, such as in performance research, in cros s-disciplinary theatrical productions, and in film and creative work. Inves tigating iconography that depicts certain original philosophic concepts of a balance between male and female (ardhanarishvara), and particular stories of gender transformation in mythological depictions such as in the epic Ma habharata text as well as examples of deities worshipped by the trans commu nity (Bahuchara Mata) expose layered understandings of the spectrum of huma n sexuality. These developments will form part of the new investigation. In this project I investigate aspects of ‘asymmetrical relations of dependenc e’ (Hegewald, 2023:8) and issues of empowerment as well as erasures of memo ry brought about by nationalistic agendas.\nAnn R David, PhD, Professor of Dance and Cultural Engagement, is Distinguished Professor Emeritus at the U niversity of Bonn, in the Institute of Oriental and Asian Studies. She has recently been a Visiting Professor at King’s College, London in the Culture , Media and Creative Industries (CMCI) department, and holds an Emerita pro fessorial position at the University of Roehampton where she worked for 17 years, including 6 years as Head of the Dance Department. Her research and teaching specialisms are dance anthropology (ritual, migration, diaspora, e mbodiment) and South Asian classical & popular dance; her dance trainin g includes ballet, contemporary, folk, and the Indian classical styles of b haratanatyam and kathak. She has published widely on this work, as well as on dance in Bollywood and on the ritual dances of Tibetan Buddhism and has completed a monograph of Indian dancer Ram Gopal, (Bloomsbury). Ann has giv en public talks at the V&A, the British Library, British Museum and Nat ional Portrait Gallery and been involved in post-show discussions at Asia H ouse, Nehru Centre, Sadler’s Wells, Southbank and the Bhavan, and has appea red on BBC radio and TV on several occasions. She is passionate about the n eed for the arts in education, works closely with policy makers, and is on the board of several arts organisations. Her current interests are in creat ing cultures of (mutual) care in the arts that support an ecological dimens ion.\n \n X-ALT-DESC;FMTTYPE=text/html:

Seminaire AnnD avid 2025 ArdharishwaraBronzeGoing beyond the usual concepts of dependency relations hips located within a post-colonial state, this new research project examin es in greater depth how Indian conceptions of the body (depicted in art, ic onography and in performance) have been impacted by a moral, religious West ern perspective imposed before, during and post-colonial rule. My recent fo cus on gay male dancer Ram Gopal, the subject of a recently published monog raph (2024), investigates a fascinating man who worked his way through a co mplex tangle of critical contemporary problems as a gay Asian male dancer i n London and Europe at a time when myriad and relevant cultural shifts were in progress. Tackling issues of gender and coloniality, the book is a crit ical beginning to the new research.

The ‘moralising projects of colon ial and post-colonial modernity’ as Davesh Soneji has termed them remain pa rt of the ‘unfinished pasts’ (2012: 3) of both the place and enactment of p erformative ritual and performance in India, from the roles of the female t emple dancers, the devadasi, through to the itinerant folk dance a nd theatrical performers, and the ‘third gender’ or transgender performers – the hirijas and kothis. In these cases, there is what I call a ‘double dependency’ that emerges firstly from the all-powerful colo nial project and secondly, in the India that develops in post-colonial time s from the new, fervent nationalism that reinforces in part, a Victorian mo rality and disgust for bodily performance, recreating the dance forms throu gh a prism of purity and respectability. In complex ways, these systems cre ated cultures of dependency where aspects of inclusion and exclusion were n ormative ways of behaviour.

In terms of contemporary practice, a numb er of Indian dancers in India, in the UK and elsewhere are now attempting t o re-inscribe and re-create artistic forms connected with traditional India n forms of gender and sexuality (devadasis, hijras, etc.) in a rad ically different context, such as in performance research, in cross-discipl inary theatrical productions, and in film and creative work. Investigating iconography that depicts certain original philosophic concepts of a balance between male and female (ardhanarishvara), and particular stories of gender transformation in mythological depictions such as in the epic Mahabharata text as well as examples of deities worshipped by the tr ans community (Bahuchara Mata) expose layered understandings of th e spectrum of human sexuality. These developments will form part of the new investigation. In this project I investigate aspects of ‘asymmetrical rela tions of dependence’ (Hegewald, 2023:8) and issues of empowerment as well a s erasures of memory brought about by nationalistic agendas.

Ann R David, PhD, Professor of Dance and Cultural Engagement, is D istinguished Professor Emeritus at the University of Bonn, in the Institute of Oriental and Asian Studies. She has recently been a Visiting Professor at King’s College, London in the Culture, Media and Creative Industries (CM CI) department, and holds an Emerita professorial position at the Universit y of Roehampton where she worked for 17 years, including 6 years as Head of the Dance Department. Her research and teaching specialisms are dance anth ropology (ritual, migration, diaspora, embodiment) and South Asian classica l & popular dance; her dance training includes ballet, contemporary, fo lk, and the Indian classical styles of bharatanatyam and kathak. She has pu blished widely on this work, as well as on dance in Bollywood and on the ri tual dances of Tibetan Buddhism and has completed a monograph of Indian dan cer Ram Gopal, (Bloomsbury). Ann has given public talks at the V&A, the British Library, British Museum and National Portrait Gallery and been inv olved in post-show discussions at Asia House, Nehru Centre, Sadler’s Wells, Southbank and the Bhavan, and has appeared on BBC radio and TV on several occasions. She is passionate about the need for the arts in education, work s closely with policy makers, and is on the board of several arts organisat ions. Her current interests are in creating cultures of (mutual) care in th e arts that support an ecological dimension.

 

DTSTAMP:20260429T083702 DTSTART;TZID=Europe/Paris:20250203T101500 DTEND;TZID=Europe/Paris:20250203T121500 SEQUENCE:0 TRANSP:OPAQUE END:VEVENT END:VCALENDAR