Flexibility and Its Bodily Limits: Transnational South Asian Dancers in an Age of Neoliberalism

This article examines the conflicting and paradoxical ways in which race and citizenship intersect in late capitalism, and how dancers negotiate these contradictions through their bodily labor. Focusing on South Asian dancers in the UK, I suggest that transnational South Asian dancers have increasin...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inDance research journal Vol. 46; no. 1; pp. 23 - 40
Main Author Kedhar, Anusha
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published New York Cambridge University Press 01.04.2014
Congress on Research in Dance
Subjects
Asian art
Ballet
Bharathanatyam
Capitalism
Choreography
Citizenship
Dance
Dance companies
Dancers & choreographers
Diaspora
Flexibility
Globalization
Indian classical dance
Migrants
Modern dance
Negotiation
United Kingdom > UK
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Summary:This article examines the conflicting and paradoxical ways in which race and citizenship intersect in late capitalism, and how dancers negotiate these contradictions through their bodily labor. Focusing on South Asian dancers in the UK, I suggest that transnational South Asian dancers have increasingly had to emphasize flexibility and mobility in their bodies and dance practices in order to gain access to mainstream funding, venues, audiences, resources, and touring circuits which have traditionally marginalized non-white dance practices. I argue that “flexible citizenship” is not just a political strategy to negotiate capital; it is also a bodily tactic and an embodied response to the racialization of labor in neoliberal economies. However, there are limits to how far the flexibility of flexible citizenship can stretch. Although the creativity of South Asian dancers and the strength of their bodily practices has helped them to negotiate racial inequalities in Britain, immigration laws, arts funding policies, and employment regulations have immobilized dancers. Addressing the various complexities and contradictions in which transnational bodies are embroiled, this essay is both a tribute to the creative, flexible practices of South Asian dancers as well as an acknowledgment of the limits of flexible citizenship and a critique of neoliberalism's toll on the racialized dancing body.
ISSN:0149-7677
1940-509X
DOI:10.1017/S0149767714000163