Introduction Part I: Caste, Community and performance

1. A ritual performance of Kerala, Vayala Vasudevan Pillai





2. The Patuas of Bengal, Makbul Islam





3. Bards and goddesses: The Pombalas in Tirupati, Anand Akundy





4. Explorations in the art forms of the Cindu madigas in Andhra, Y A Sudhakar Reddy and R R Harischandra





5. Caste identity and performance in a fisher-village of Assam, Kishore Bhattacharjee








Part II: Performance Beyond Caste






6. Telugu pady natakam in Andhra: Performance dynamics, P Subbachary





7. Modernising tradition: The yaksagana in Karnataka, Guru Rao Bapat





8. Kalarippayatt as aesthetics and the politics of invisibility in Kerala, P K Sasidharan





9. India People’s Theatre Association in colonial Andhra, V Ramakrishna





10. Gaddar and the politics and pain of singing, D Venkat Rao





11. Reviving moghal tamsa in Orissa, Sachi Mohanty








Part III: Classical Dance and its Successors






12. New directions in Indian dance, Sunil Kothari





13. Transpositions in kuchipudi dance, Aruna Bhikshu





14. The impact of commercialization in dance, K Subadra Murthy





15. Art addressing social problems, Ananda Shankar Jayant