ABSTRACT
Such ‘multiple modernities’ are signicant in analyzing dance in South Asia. In this essay, I redene the parameters of modernism as relevant for dance in South
Asia. Modern initiatives in dance make changes (1) in the form of a dance style (such as the Indian classical style of Bharatanatyam, which can be transformed by including modern dance movements); (2) in collaging two or more dance styles together (such as Kathak, modern dance, and Odissi); (3) in choreographing new themes from
current social issues such as gender and ethnic identity, poverty, and the environment; or (4) in using voice, silence, story-telling, and theatre techniques with movement, creating hybrid dance-cum-theatre works.
