Bollywood: Postmodernism's Legacy to the International Dance World

Abstract

Postmodernism in the American dance world began in the 1960s, largely through the influence of Sally Banes (affected by Susan Sontag's ideas about “a transparent art”), and had adverse effects, worldwide, on traditional forms of dancing in the sphere of commercial dancing. The results are especially apparent in movies produced by an Indian conglomerate of film companies known as “Bollywood” and its namesakes. The author argues that “Bollywood dance” is a debased version of traditional Indian culture that is both nihilistic and meaningless. At the same time, it provides valuable insights into a “pseudo-modern world” [Kirby 2006] and globalized marketing economics. Several postcolonialist writers enter the discussion because they object to formerly colonized peoples represented as “hollow mimics” of the Western world; however, the author suggests that they are simply praising other cultures at the expense of their own. She concludes with a quotation from Henrik Ibsen's play, An Enemy of the People [1928 (1882)].