Taming the Sensory Body: Memory, Text, Idea will engage with the historical, philosophical, and political redefinitions of Indian embodied practices, particularly yoga and dance, over the last century and a half. The advent of rationalism, realism, and capitalism in the subcontinent resulted in a new way of seeing the body. This led to the emergence of a new morality, a revised spirituality, and the obliteration of lived-histories of traditional practitioners (hatha yogis, devadasis, tawaifs, etc.) in favour of text and propriety. The course aims to offer an informed view of these shifts and their impact on not only the practice and pedagogy of Indian dance and yoga but also the image and idea of India. (there is also a practical somatics element)
navtej.johar@ashoka.edu.in