About the Book: From the corner of her Eye: The Many Histories of Bharatanatyam

One of Indias most important dance forms, Bharatanatyam was created in the 20th century by selectively re-fashioning the dance traditions that preceded it. The generations of womenfrom professional dance communities who carried the dance into the modern era, gesture by beguiling gesture, are largely forgotten today.

What explains the importance of these traditional dancers in the great South Indian temples and courts, streets and even countryside? How have some of the most recognizable features of the dance, like its half-sitting, open-kneed stance and its wrenching love songs travelled miraculously intact down the centuries? Why were traditional dancers, who came to be known as devadasis, stigmatized, and how did they weather social ostracism and moral outrage? How did this dance become an upper and newly emerging middle class pursuit?

Justin McCarthy, a practitioner and teacher of Bharatanatyam, teases out these fascinating stories in this beautifully written, accessible book, at once a cultural and social history. He brings alive celebrated !gures from myth, !ction and history. There is the celestial Urvashi, dancing through ancient lore. There is the court dancer Madhavi, the anti-heroine of Tamil epics.

There is Muddupalani, an 18th century dancer and author of a shockingly erotic poem. There is Rukmini Devi, one of the !rst non-hereditary dancers. There is Balasaraswati, virtually the only hereditary dancer to sail brightly through the dance as it changed names and hands.

But what about the anonymous dancer we see sculpted in stone, one hip slightly out to the side, a candid look on her face? And the unknown dancer painted in a festive scene, all eyes on her as she !nishes a jumping step with a "ourish? Or the nameless dancer in early studio photography, staring at the camera with apprehensive de!ance? As this book looks for what may have slipped between the cracks, this is also very much their story.

About the Author: Justin McCarthy

Justin McCarthy came to India from the United States in 1979 to learn Bharatanatyam after !rst encountering it at a festival in San Franciscos Golden Gate Park. He trained with Subbarayan Pillai in Madras and later with Leela Samson at Shriram Bharatiya Kala Kendra, New Delhi, where he taught for nearly three decades. A performer, choreographer and scholar, he has created several ensemble works based on Tamil and Sanskrit texts. He now heads the performing arts department at Ashoka University, where he teaches Bharatanatyam history and Sanskrit theatre aesthetics. He lives in New Delhi.