Bodies and borders

This chapter focuses on an incident that has been referred to as the “costume controversy.” Described simply, the Kuala Lumpur–based Sutra Dance Theatre touring in India in 2005 came under intense public scrutiny for their costumes, which in turn led to various national and local debates in three areas: ‘appropriateness’ or auchitya of women’s costumes; between regional identity in Odisha versus national culture and/or global forms of expression; and around the issue of ‘authenticity’ and how it is policed in a neoliberal context.