Another Time, Another Space — Does the Dance Remain the Same?

This essay examines issues concerning the trends of appropriation of indigenous dance styles by urban practitioners, encouraged by the trend of “Sanskritization.” This has been an ongoing process since the early twentieth century that has even been undertaken and encouraged by the Government of India since independence. It also analyzes the need for change felt by indigenous practitioners, the search for an “as yet unexplored” and thus marketable dance style by the urban dance practitioner, and the necessity for proper acknowledgment of each dance style as it is de/re-contextualized, or placed in a different space at a different time.