“Exotic Sensation” or “Völkisch Art”? Press Reviews of the Indisches Ballett Menaka (Menaka Indian Ballet) on Tour Through Germany, 1936–1938

Abstract

The tour of the Indian Ballet Menaka through hundreds of German cities between 1936 and 1938 left a large footprint in the form of theatre reviews. This article focuses on the role of these performances in actualizing a specific knowledge about India that was, firstly, based on the assumption of the consanguinity of Indo-German peoples and, secondly, on a vision of history as a realization of the utopian ideal of cultural regeneration through art. This article thus hopes to articulate the ways in which the unique experience of this Indian theatre event served as an instrument for consolidating a völkisch/racialized perception of art in general, and of music in particular.