Devotional Hindu Dance

1. Front Matter

   Pages i-xix

   PDF

2. Introduction

   • Sabrina D. MisirHiralall

   Pages 1-27

3. Religion and Culture in the History of Hindu Dance Education

   • Sabrina D. MisirHiralall

   Pages 29-59

4. Defining Devotional Hindu Dance

   • Sabrina D. MisirHiralall

   Pages 61-93

5. Basics of Learning Devotional Hindu Dance

   • Sabrina D. MisirHiralall

   Pages 95-115

6. Conclusion

   • Sabrina D. MisirHiralall

   Pages 117-131

7. Back Matter

   Pages 133-136

   PDF

This book sheds light on the purpose of Hindu dance as devotional. Dr. Sabrina D. MisirHiralall explains the history of Hindu dance and how colonization caused the dance form to move from sacred to a Westernized system that emphasizes culture.  Postcolonialism is a main theme throughout this text, as religion and culture do not remain static. MisirHiralall points to a postcolonial return to Hindu dance as a religious and sacred dance form while positioning Hindu dance in the Western culture in which she lives.

• Hindu dance
• Bharata Natyam
• Kuchipudi
• Indian Classical Dance
• Hinduism
• Postcolonialism

“Sabrina MisirHiralall explores the intersections of dance, religion, and culture by reflecting on her own experiences with dance as a performer and educator. The book is grounded in a method MisirHiralall calls ‘self-study,’ … . the self-reflective nature of the book provides the reader with a look at a very personal journey with dance … . her self-reflective approach and self-study method for teaching dance may be of interest to those in the field of education.” (Janani Mandayam Comar, Reading Religion, readingreligion.org, May 27, 2022)

"Dr. Sabrina D. MisirHiralall is a rare combination of academically based religious studies, education, and philosophy scholar who is an accomplished practitioner of Kuchipudi Hindu dance with a faith-based approach to Hinduism. She brings these qualities to bear on the topic of restoring Hindu dance from a corruption by colonialism to a postcolonial religious and devotional experience that more closely relates to the origins of Hindu dance. Through historical recounting and self-study, Dr. MisirHiralall makes a case for restoring the sacred in Hindu dance. All who read this text will benefit from understanding the need for a postcolonial awareness that comprehends the complexities of religion and culture. " (Michael D. Waggoner, Professor of Postsecondary Education, University of Northern Iowa, and Editor of Religion & Education )

 "Through a postcolonial self-study, Dr. Sabrina D. MisirHiralall challenges conceptions of Hindu dance as 'culture' as she reclaims Hindu dance as a form of sacred devotional practice, with ontological, rather than just epistemological implications. In this book, Devotional Hindu Dance: A Return to the Sacred, Dr. MisirHiralallalso challenges Cartesian assumptions of the split between mental and physical realms. She illustrates how embodied knowledge and movement can illuminate important distinctions between religion and culture." (Vanessa de Oliveira Andreotti, Professor, Canada Research Chair in Race, Inequalities and Global Change, The University of British Columbia, Canada)

 "Devotional Hindu Dance: A Return to the Sacred stands at the cutting-edge of numerous directions in the study of religion and with our work as public intellectuals to cultivate the common good. Within her creative matrix, Dr. MisirHiralall is part of the energy of de-colonialism which deepens and unveils the ocean of wisdom from the study of Hinduism. Indeed, she is doing something urgent and necessary: providing a pathway for all of us to follow into the work of constructive and regenerative engagement with and within the traditions of Hinduism. As a Hindu scholar/practitioner, Dr. MisirHiralall grounds this trailblazing work within her ancestral rooting as a scholar and practitioner of Hindu sacred dance. Drawing upon the theopoetics of sacred embodiment and the devotional rhythms of dancing for the Divine, in combination with a dynamic decolonial approach, Dr. MisirHiralall provides us with a text which allows the reader to encounter Hinduism in an unexpected and original fashion." (Christopher Fici, Instructor, Religious Studies Department, Iona College, and Co-Director of Sacred Ecology Forum, USA)

 

 

• Montclair State University, Montclair, USA

  Sabrina D. MisirHiralall

Sabrina D. MisirHiralall holds a doctorate in pedagogy and philosophy from Montclair State University. She currently teaches as an online adjunct professor for several institutions and serves as an Associate Editor for the Blog of the American Philosophical Association.

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