A Pedagogy of Decolonial Choreography: Reflections of A South Asian Dance Practitioner

Abstract

ABSTRACT Focusing on Sri Lankan dance and placing it on the broader spectrum of South Asian dance, I propose a pedagogical process that engages critically with colonial past and present realities, a pedagogy that I term decolonial choreography. A South Asian dancer born and bred in Sri Lanka, I studied and performed the Kandyan dance of Sri Lanka and the Kathak dance of India, and received a PhD in the United States. I have also taught South Asian dances in high schools and universities in the US. Based on my experience as a researcher, educator, and choreographer, I present a pedagogy of decolonial choreography that can be used when teaching and performing South Asian dances in postsecondary dance education. Instead of teaching South Asian dances as exotic, orientalist cultural expressions, decolonial choreography introduces novel critical choreographies resulting from its analytical engagement with South Asian dance and its colonial and postcolonial histories.