Staging a cultural collaboration: Louise lightfoot and Ananda Shivaram’s first indian dance tour of Australia, 1947-1951

Sarwal, Amit (2015) Staging a cultural collaboration: Louise lightfoot and Ananda Shivaram’s first indian dance tour of Australia, 1947-1951. Dance Chronicle, 38 (3). pp. 303-335. ISSN 0147-2526

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Abstract

One of the most highly stylized of the Indian forms of dance-drama, Kathakali has also received the greatest amount of attention on the global stage. We argue that its international exposure began with the performances of Ananda Shivaram, as managed by the Australian impresario Louise Lightfoot, in a landmark intercultural collaboration. From 1947 to 1949, Shivaram, along with an ensemble of Australian dancers, successfully toured Australia, adapting a range of Kathakali dance-dramas to performance in an international context. Lightfoot organized and publicized the tour, translated texts, and explained the art of Kathakali—virtually unknown—to excited Australian audiences. Using newspaper reports, advertisements, program brochures, and promoter's notes, we chart the performer's and the impresario's journeys, how they fostered intercultural understanding, and how Shivaram became a cultural ambassador for India.

Item Type:	Journal Article
Uncontrolled Keywords:	Louise Lightfoot, Ananda Shivaram, Indian Dance, Kathakali, Ballet, India, Australia,
Subjects:	D History General and Old World > DS Asia J Political Science > JV Colonies and colonization. Emigration and immigration. International migration J Political Science > JZ International relations M Music and Books on Music > M Music N Fine Arts > NX Arts in general
Divisions:	Faculty of Arts, Law and Education (FALE) > School of Language, Arts and Media
Depositing User:	Amit Sarwal
Date Deposited:	21 May 2018 03:19
Last Modified:	21 May 2018 03:19
URI:	http://repository.usp.ac.fj/id/eprint/10698

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