ABSTRACT
In his essay ‘Assembling our differences: bridging identities-in-motion in intercultural
performance’ (which prefaces the sister section to this chapter in PT:R, p. 239), David
Williams invokes the metaphor of bridges and bridging, and quotes performer and theatre
maker Anna Deaveare Smith who writes:
It was Balasaraswarti’s influence that was the more lasting on Chandralekha . . . because she
understood dance to be not a celebration of the gods, but rather a celebration of man and
woman – especially women . . . the choreography was often explicit and reminiscent of the erotic
sculptures of the Khajuraho temples. ‘Celebrations of the human body’ is how Chandralekha
described her dance productions . . . based on her premise of the indivisibility of sexuality,
sensuality and spirituality.
