It Matters For Whom You Dance: Audience Participation in Rasa Theory *

Rasa theory since ancient times has consistently noted an inter-influencing relationship between performance and audiences. As dance discourse addresses subtler processes of embodied knowing, Indian theories of perception and the reception of performance become more accessible. From this vantage point, it is astonishing to note the extent to which Abhinavagupta’s list of “obstacles” to rasa can be read in the conventions and structures of current traditional Indian classical forms. His profound but practical observations of the ways that performance can shape the audience’s experience presaged postmodern concerns with the spectators’ participation, complicating narratives with layered images and multiple perspectives. ¹