Performing the region: Sadhona Bose and the modern Bengali film dance

Abstract

ABSTRACTThe first half of the twentieth century saw the emergence of popular cultural practices that would define the sub-national differential of ‘Bengal’ within the larger Indian nation. One of the constituents of this differential was 1930s modern screen dance, performed by stars from the ‘cultured’ society. The most notable of them was Sadhona Bose – granddaughter of the social reformer Keshub Chandra Sen – who went on to become one of the first known dancing stars of Bengal. Bose’s Bengali Modern Dance – which claimed distinction from previous dances performed on the stage, dance-forms of silent cinema (both of which were considered undignified) and the neo-classical dances of the national-revivalist project – was central to her stardom. Through a study of Bose’s personal history and dance choreographies on screen, this article underscores the differential ‘Bengali-ness’ of Bose’s dancer persona. The article argues that the modern eclecticism of film dance created a space for Bose to negotiate her regional/Bengali subjectivity even while fulfilling the historicist demands of a hegemonic nationalism. It goes beyond the scope of the respectability discourse that often mires a female star and instead focuses on the nuances of dance forms and choreographies to locate her within the larger framework of dance culture and a regional modernism.