Urmimala Sarkar Munsi: On Dance and Preservation in India

Curious about how performance and dance conservation is practiced in India and what can be learned from Indian dance research and dance as research, the team of Performance: Conservation, Materiality, Knowledge has recently met with Urmimala Sarkar Munsi, who is an expert in social anthropology, dance studies and choreography. As a Professor at the School of Arts and Aesthetics in Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi, India, Professor Sarkar teaches and researches various aspects of dance, including its potential to aid survivors of sexual violence. Her work centers on the intersection of gender, sexuality and dance. As a dancer, Urmimala has performed extensively both in India and abroad. Her research focuses on the politics of performance and its social issues. She has conducted groundbreaking research on dance and affect, cultural unlearning, and auto-ethnographic approaches in dance.