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?