Dance
Fusing Indian Classical Dance and Western Modern Dance
Tulsi Mehta ('12); Mentor: Laurie Cameron
Abstract: I began research endeavoring to create a
dance that fused the Indian classical dance
Bharatanatyam and American Modern dance. I had
trained in Bharatanatyam professionally in India
before I came to college here, where I was first
introduced to Modern dance. I fell in love with how
free Modern was compared to the structured symbolisms
of Bharatanatyam, how every movement the
body could make was dance. I aimed to combine
aspects of both dance styles without foregoing the
essence of either. From a seemingly straightforward
choreographic venture, this study turned into a
rethinking of my culture, body and emotions. It
became a reflecting and revisiting of past and
present. Learning movement analysis tools at
Pomona, helped me to observe Bharatanatyam from
a new perspective and I am exploring different ways
to approach this choreographic project while I
relearn the complex Bharatanatyam movements that
now seem unfamiliar, to a different me.
Funding provided by Pomona College SURP