ABSTRACT
This chapter shows the ways in which the concept of immanent female power, śakti, has been utilized during the anti-nautch movement and the consequent rise of bharatanāṭyam. The dancer's position within the women's question is critically examined, focusing on how her identity was constructed in terms of controlled or uncontrolled śakti. The transition process from devadāsī to bharatanāṭyam dancer has involved broader Hindu ideologies that were claimed to be universal, such as female power, as emphasized by Swami Vivekananda. Here, we will see how the notion of śakti has been constantly reiterated and unilaterally shaped to serve the various agendas at work, particularly to nourish the ideology of the nationalist movement. During the anti-nautch campaign, primordial female power was increasingly framed as conditional. Thus, śakti was drastically confined to the virtues of the loyal, well-behaved and controlled wife in the domestic sphere. The last part of the chapter focuses on the concrete example of Rukmini Devi and her approach to Indian dance, aiming at illustrating the hitherto explained link between controlled/uncontrolled śakti and bharatanāṭyam dancer/devadāsī.
