CURRICULUM VITAE
NAME DR. AVANTHI MEDURI
Reader in Dance and Performance Studies
Convener MA South Asian Dance Studies
Academic and Artistic Director Centre for Contemporary Culture, New Delhi
Co-Founder Asian Performing Arts Forum, London
Fellow International Research Centre, Freie University, Berlin
Department of Dance
University of Roehampton, Frobel College
Roehampton Lane
London, SW15 5PJ
Email:a.meduri@roehampton ac.uk
http://www.roehampton.ac.uk/staff/AvanthiMeduri/
ACADEMIC QUALIFICATIONS
1996
Ph.D. Department of Performance Studies, Tisch School of the Arts, New
York University (Dissertation: “Nation, Woman, Representation: The
Sutured History of the Devadasi and her Dance, 1856-1960.” Director:
Richard Schechner). Defended Thesis, 1996. Microfilmed, 1996.
1986
M.A. in English Literature, University of Texas, Austin. Master’s Thesis:
“T.S. Eliot and Modernism.”
1984
M.A. in English Literature, University of Bangalore, India.
1979
B.A. in English Literature, Stella Maris College, Madras, India.
1968-onward Dance/Drama Studies: Trained in Indian classical dance, drama and music
since age three. Over sixteen years continuous training in the theatre arts
of South India. More than 200 performances in India, West Germany,
Europe and the United States. Professional career as Indian classical
dancer available on request.
CURRENT TEACHING AT ROEHAMTON UNIVERSITY
At Roehampton University, I teach on the BA and MA portfolios; serve on
undergraduate/postgraduate academic and research committees and supervise BA and
MA dissertations.
I also designed new undergraduate and postgraduate modules with focus on Dance in
Diverse Cultures including Ballet, American Modern and Postmodern Dance Theatre
Traditions; European Tanz-Theatre; Contemporary Dance in India, Asia and Europe,
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British Black and South Asian Arts; Urban and Popular Dance; World Dance and Music
Traditions including Jazz, Hip Hop, Bollywood/Bhangra, and Cross Cultural Dance;
I taught the following undergraduate modules: Dance, Culture and Society; Dance, Art
and Society; World Music and Dance; Gender, Sexualities, and Performance;
Questioning Citizenship; and Key Perspectives in Dance; I gave inputs into Urban and
Popular Dance;
I taught the following post graduate core modules: Global Dance Modernisms; Global
Dance Diasporas; I gave inputs into Core MA Modules: Dance as Socio-Cultural
Practice; and Analyzing Dances;
I taught the following post graduate optional modules: Ritual, Spectacle and
Performance; Dance Citizenship; Postcolonial Theory, Performativity; and Contemporary
Dance Theatre; Choreographing Gender and Performance; I gave inputs into Dance in
Diverse Cultures; and Dance, Politics and Identity.
CURRENT ADMINISTRATION AT ROEHAMTON UNIVERSITY
BA Convener, Gender, Sexualities and Performance;
BA Convener, Questioning Citizenship;
BA Convener, Dance, Culture, Society;
BA Convener, World Music and Dance;
BA Convener, Dance, Art, and Society;
BA Convener, Key Perspectives in Dance;
2010-2012 Overall Convener of the MAs/MFA/MRes Dance Cluster Programmes;
2005-2012 Convener MA/PGDip in South Asian Dance Studies;
As convener of the MA in South Asian Dance Studies, I developed the AHRB
Surrey/Roehampton Cross Cultural music and dance research initiative, focused on Black
and South Asian Arts. I conceptualized this British South Asian Dance Studies program
based on five intertwined histories of British decolonization, dance migration, British
multiculturalism, diaspora formations and globalization. The new programme was
launched in 2005 and has attracted students from India, US, Europe and Singapore.
As Overall Convener of the MA Dance Cluster programmes, comprising 8 Dance MAs, I
was responsible for the overall academic management of this cluster programme and
development of its academic and research vision.
CURRENT DOCTORAL SUPERVISON AT ROEHAMTON UNIVERSITY
I supervise MPhil/PhD research projects focused on Dance in Diverse Cultures, and
including Ballet, American Modern and Postmodern Dance Theatre Traditions; European
Tanz-Theatre; Contemporary Dance in India, Asia and Europe, British Black and South
Asian Arts; Urban and Popular Dance; World Dance and Music Traditions including
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Jazz, Hip Hop, Bollywood/Bhangra; Cross Cultural Dance; Post-colonial Dance Forms
and Traditions;
PhD Supervision since 2007; 4 PhD students, 1completed and employed in UK
institution; 2 more to complete (1 defense scheduled date, August 2012).
RESEARCH AREAS
As a Dance and Performance Studies scholar, my research is situated broadly in the
interdisciplinary fields of dance, theatre and performance studies; My research draws on
cultural and historical approaches; critical theory; feminist performance-theory and
theories of embodiment and expressivity; and examines cultural and aesthetic production
from within local, national, postcolonial, diaspora and globalization perspectives.
As a South Asia Scholar, my research focuses on comparative studies of
Western/Indian/Asian Dance modernism (s); comparative dance nationalisms; subaltern
and postcolonial dance histories; British South Asian diaspora traditions and ethnicity;
multicultural dance revivals within three geographical contexts of India, US and the UK.
As Dance-Theatre Practitioner, I work in the field of Practice as Research. My PAR
projects explore the intersections between dance historiography, postcolonial archives,
biography, gender, and embodiment from within performance and trans-local
perspectives.
FIELD RESEARCH
2001-2002
1990-1992
Archival and Ethnographic Field Work in Chennai and New Delhi, India.
Archival and Field Research in five cities including Chennai, New Delhi,
Mumbai, Baroda, and Kolkotta.
LANGUAGES: Fluent in Tamil, Telugu, and Hindi. Foreign Language: German and
Sanskrit
RESEARCH/PRACTICE/ENTERPRISE PROJECTS
2012-2014: I received a Research Fellowship from International Research Centre, Freie
University, Berlin, to publish my Ford Foundation research focused on the transnational
art and education vision work of Rukmini Devi Arudnale, the founder of the
internationally renowned Kalakshetra arts conservatoire, located in South India.
2010-2012: I helped establish the Asian Performing Arts Forum (APAF) which was
conceived as a strategic Knowledge Transfer Partnership between three London
universities(http://asianperformingartsforum.wordpress.com/. In 2011, APAF organized
an international conference at Royal Holloway and forged new collaborations with arts
entrepreneurs and practitioners, working within and outside the University sector. We are
presently developing an AHRC research networking initiative focused on arts
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entrepreneurship, and examining new forms of patronage, digital archiving and arts
curation in an transnational perspective.
2010- 2012: As Overall Convener of the MA Cluster Programme at Roehampton
University, comprising 8 Dance MAs, I submitted a proposal entitled “Embracing the
Post Graduate Certificate (PGcert) as New Option in Higher Education.” In the proposal,
I suggested that all research programmes be offered as online distance learning
programmes and marketed as Postgraduate Degree 180s credits), Diploma (120 credits)
and PGcert programmes (60credits).
For South Asian Dance Studies, I developed two Knowledge Transfer Initiatives (KTI’).
In the first, I forged collaborations with Milapfest, a Manchester based South Asian arts
organization, and created graduate bursaries for South Asian Dance Studies. In the
second KTI, I forged collaborations with the Centre for Advanced Training (CAT),
Birmingham and the enterprise partner came forward to support bursaries for the Summer
School Programme at Roehampton University.
2009-2010: Responding to the research-enterprise mandates of AHRC, I conceptualized
a Global Theatre Arts and Media MA, and sketched a vision plan for its delivery. Entitled
“Embracing Interdisciplinary, Challenges and Opportunities in Higher Education,” the
proposal suggested the formation of a Global Arts Research Centre that would focus on
popular and contemporary theatre forms including, Bhangra, Bollywood, Jazz Salsa, Hip
Hop and Contemporary Dance.
2004-2008: As convener of the Masters Programme in South Asian Dance Studies, I
conceptualized a cross-cultural, interdisciplinary pedagogy for British South Asian dance
traditions, and located this within what is known as the Cluster Dance MAs. South Asian
Dance Studies was identified as an ‘area of excellence’ in the 2008 RAE and it is featured
as an Impact Profile for the REF.
2004-2005: Supported by a Ford Foundation postdoctoral grant, I created my third PAR
project around the biography of three key women of the Theosophical Society including
Madame Blavatsky, Annie Besant and Rukmini Devi Arundale. Realized in collaboration
with Professor Kathy Foley at the University of California, Santa Cruz, the performance
was staged in various Universities in the US, UK and India.
2000-2004: Supported by a Ford Foundation postdoctoral grant, I founded the Centre for
Contemporary Culture in New Delhi to develop a transnational research/practice vision
of Indian performing arts. To realize this vision, I curated the photo-exhibition of
Rukmini Devi Arundale, and developed two PAR performance projects. Both were
presented as part of Rukmini Devi’s Birth Centenary Celebrations, celebrated worldwide
by the Govt. of India in 2003-4. The Rukmini Devi photo exhibition was presented in
India, Sri Lanka, Malaysia, Singapore, Australia, Japan and featured a performance
entitled ‘Birds of the Banyan Tree.’ To commemorate the occasion, Dr. A.P.J. Abdul
Kalam, former President of India, released my edited volume titled Rukmini Devi
Arundale: A Visionary Architect of Indian Culture and the Performing Arts. This book is
used as a key text book in Indian dance studies, and has seen several reprints.
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1997-2000: Supported by a national grant from the India Foundation for the Arts,
Bangalore I adapted my doctoral research into a bilingual Practice-as Research (PAR)
dance-theatre performance, featuring devadais or temple dancers. The theatre
performance was presented as part of the 50th Anniversary Celebrations of Indian
Independence and staged in twenty-four cities across India and featured both in
mainstream and alternative theatre venues, schools and colleges.
PREVIOUS ACADEMIC EMPLOYEMENT
2003-2004
2001-2004
2001-2002
1997-2000
1995-1996
1993-1996
Part-Time Visiting Artist/Scholar in Residence, Appointment, Department
of Theatre Arts, University of California, Santa Cruz.
Ford Scholar, and Academic Director Center for Contemporary Culture,
New Delhi.
Ford Scholar, Associate Fellow, Center for Art and Aesthetics, Jawaharlal
Nehru University, New Delhi.
Full-Time, Visiting Assistant Professor, Department of Performance
Studies, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL.
Part-Time, Visiting Assistant Professor, Department of Dance, University
of California, at Riverside
Part-Time, Visiting Assistant Professor in the Communication Studies
Program, Women’s Studies Program, World Arts and Cultures Program,
and the History Department, University of California, Los Angeles.
PREVIOUS TEACHING EXPERIENCE
I have taught in three premier American Universities. These include the Department of
Performance Studies, Northwestern University, Evanston, Illiois (1997-2000); in the
World Arts and Cultures Program, University of California, Los Angeles (1993-1997);
and Department of Dance at Riverside, University of California (1993-1996). I have also
held an Artist-in-Residence Appointment at the University of California, Santa Cruz
(2003-2004)
At Northwestern University, I taught graduate seminars in Aesthetic Principles and
Criticism: Post Colonial Theory and Criticism; Post Colonial Drama, and Performance;
and Feminist Theories of the Body. At the undergraduate level, I taught four required
courses: Culture and Performance; Studies in Gender and Performance; Western and
Asian Perspectives of Drama and Performance; and Towards a Theory for the Arts. In
addition, I also taught special topics courses entitled Global Flows and Cultural
Performances; Third World Nationalisms and Sexualities and " Asian Diasporas:" "Texts
and Performances"; and "India in the West."
At UCLA, I taught interdisciplinary courses in the World Arts and Cultures;
Communication Studies; and Women’s Studies Programs. Course titles include "Dance
of South Asia;" "Centers and Margins: Women and their Representation in Dance and the
Visual Arts,": "Constructing Identities through Visual Representation; and "Women and
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their Imaging in Visual Media: Film and Television"; "Women of Color in the United
States".
In the Department of Dance at Riverside, I taught courses in early American Modern and
Postmodern Dance. Course titles include "Dance in a Multicultural Context;" "Dance and
Modernity;" and " Watching the Dance Go By".
MAJOR RESEARCH AWARDS/GRANTS
2012-2013
2001-2004
2000-2001
2000-2005.
1999-2000
1997-1998.
1996-1997
1992-1993.
1992-1993.
1992-1993
1990-1992
1989-1990
1986-1988
Research Fellow of the International Research Centre ”Interweaving
Performance Cultures,” at the Freie Universitat, Berlin
Ford Foundation, Post Doctoral Research Fellowship to develop
transnational research initiative in Indian performing arts. .
Ford Fellow in the School for Art and Aesthetics, Jawaharlal Nehru
University, New Delhi, to develop Ford grant as research initiative..
Academic and Artistic Director, Center for Contemporary Culture, New
Delhi. (Curated Rukmini Devi photo archive and featured it in New Delhi,
Calcutta, Singapore, Penang, Malaysia, Sri Lanka, Australia, Japan and
London).
Senior Fellowship from the Government of India to publish monograph on
Rukmini Devi Arundale (1904-1986), a pioneering figure in the revival of
South Asian theatre arts.
Government of India dissemination grant to translate postcolonial
doctoral thesis into regional Tamil play featuring devadasis (temple
dancers). The postcolonial play entitled God Has Changed His Name was
staged in twenty-four cities in India and also featured in educational
institutions.
India Foundation for the Arts Award to adapt doctoral thesis into
postcolonial play and into theatrical production entitled GHCHN.
National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) choreography and
collaboration award for development of Matsya (Fish) as theatre
project.
Rockefeller, doctoral fellowship, awarded through Asian Cultural
Council, New York.
Rockefeller Grant from Asian Cultural Council, New York, to write up
dissertation.
American Institute of Indian Studies doctoral grant to conduct archival and
ethnographic fieldwork in India.
Ford Foundation Grant directed through Asian Cultural Council, New
York to pursue South Asia Area Studies Research at the University
Chicago
Asian Cultural Council Supplementary Grant to pursue doctoral study in
the Department of Performance Studies, Tisch School of Arts, New
York University.
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BOOKS/ARTICLES/CHAPTERS
Meduri 2012 “Geo-Politics, Dissensus, and Dance Citizenship: The Case of South Asian
Dance in Britain (In press, Dance and Theory, (eds Gabriele Brundstetter and Gabriele
Klein) ISBN 978-3-8376-2151-8
http://www.transcript-verlag.de/ts2151/ts2151.php
Meduri, Avanthi 2011 “Traces and Trails: Faultline and Bruiseblood in India/London
India, (http://www.rescen.net/ Shobona_Jeyasingh/HMH/Delhi.html)
Meduri, Avanthi (2011) “Enhancing Dance Careers Through Research and Reflection,”
Pulse, 113 (Summer): p. 18
Meduri, Avanthi.(2011). Worlding Dance (review). Dance Research Journal 43(2), 109112. Cambridge University Press.
Meduri, Avanthi (2010) Bharatanatyam as World Historical Form. In Bharatanatyam: A
Reader, edited by Devesh Soneji, 253-273.New Delhi: Oxford University Press
Meduri, Avanthi (2010) ‘Global Dance Transmission(s) in London’ in Susanne Franco
and Marina Nordera eds Memory and Dance Novara: De Agnotini Scuola SpA
Meduri, Avanthi. 2009 “Bharatanatyam as a World Historical Form.” in Clairee Rousier,
ed. Danses et identities, de Bombay a Tokyo,” Pantin, Centre national de la dance, pp.
225-244.
Meduri, Avanthi.(2009). At Home in the World: Bharata Natyam on the Global
Stage (review). Asian Theatre Journal 26(2), 378-382. University of Hawai'i Press.
Meduri, Avanthi (2008a). “The Transfiguration of Indian/Asian Dance in the UK:
Bharatanatyam in Global Contexts,” Asian Theatre Journal, Vol 25, no. 2 (Fall): pp. 298329
Meduri Avanthi (2008b) “Labels, Histories, Politics: South Asian Dance on the Global
Stage,” Dance Research, Vol 26, 2 (Winter), 2008c, pp. 223-244
Meduri, Avanthi (2008c). ‘Temple Stage as Historical Allegory: Rukmini Devi as DancerHistorian’ in Peterson, Indira and Soneji, Devesh eds. Performing Pasts: Reinventing the
Arts in South India, New Delhi: Oxford University Press, 2008a, pp.133-164.
Meduri, Avanthi. (2008d). “Dance-India is on the Move.” Dance 445: 95-96.
---------. 2005a. “Introduction: A Critical Overview,” In Rukmini Devi Arundale (19041986): A Visionary Architect of Indian Culture and the Performing Arts, edited by
Avanthi Meduri, 3-29. New Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass.
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---------. 2005b. “Rukmini Devi and Sanskritization: A New Performance Perspective,” In
Rukmini Devi Arundale (1904-1986): A Visionary Architect of Indian Culture and the
Performing Arts, edited by Avanthi Meduri, 195-223. New Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass.
Meduri, Avanthi. 2005. "Challenging the Euro-American Read on Dance." Pulse 10: 2627.
Meduri Avanthi, 2004a ‘Bharatanatyam as a Global Dance: Some Issues in Teaching,
Practice and Research’, Dance Research Journal, 36/2 (Spring), pp. 11-29.
Meduri, Avanthi 2004b. “Knowing the Dancer: East meets West.” Victorian Literature
and Culture, 32, (2):435-448. [This essay is co-authored with Jeffrey Spear
Meduri, Avanthi. 2003a. “Western Feminist Theory, Asian Indian Performance and a
Notion of Agency,” In Performance: Critical Concepts in Literary and Cultural
Studies, edited by Philip Auslander, 382-395. London, New York: Routledge
Meduri,Avanthi. 2003b. “Multiple Pleasures.” In Taken by Surprise: A Dance
Improvization Reader,” edited by Ann Cooper Albright and David Gere, 141-150.
Middletown, CT: Wesleyan University Press.
Meduri Avanthi 2003c. “Bharatanatyam --What are You?” In Dance History Reader:
Moving History/Dancing Cultures, edited by Ann Cooper Albright and Ann Dils,
103-133. Middletown, CT: Wesleyan University Press.
Meduri, Avanthi (2002 “A False Dichotomy.” The Indian Express [Madras], (January
13).
Meduri, Avanthi (2001a).“Talibanization of the Performing Arts.” The Hindu [Chennai],
(Dec.18).
Meduri Avanthi (2001b) “Why it is Time to Turn On the Light.”The Pioneer {New
Delhi], (April 13).
Meduri Avanthi (2001c). “Representing a Legend.” The Pioneer [New Delhi], (March 2),
Meduri, Avanthi. 2000 “The Asian Divide.” The Asian Age [New Delhi], (December 25).
Meduri, Avanthi 1998 “The Lost World.” The Indian Express {Madras], (October 10).
Meduri, Avanthi 1997 “They Revived a Tradition.” Hindu [Madras], (September 5), 30.
Meduri, Avanthi.1997. “They Revived A Tradition,” Hindu (Chennai) September 5, 30.
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Meduri, Avanthi.1996a. "Nation, Woman, Representation: The Sutured History of the
Devadasi and Her Dance." Ph.D. dissertation, New York University.
Meduri, Avanthi. 1996b. “Modern History of Bharatanatyam: Vibrant Form or Export
Commodity.” Voices1 (3): 53-57.
Meduri, Avanthi. 1990. "History as Image: Mimesis in Bharatanatyam." Fifth Hong
Kong International Dance Conference July 15-28: Conference Papers 11, K-Z:
107-125, Hong Kong: Hong Kong Academy of Performing Arts.
Meduri, Avanthi. 1988. "Bharatha Natyam: What Are You?" Asian Theatre Journal 5 (1):
1-22.
INVITED INTERNATIONAL LECTURES/CONFERENCES
2011
2010
2010
2010
2010
2006
2005
2005
2005
2005
2005
2005
Dance [and] Theory. International Conference. 28.4. - 30.4.2011,
Uferstudios Berlin / Germany (Invited Speaker).
‘Researching South Asia: An Interdisciplinary Symposium’, Roehampton
University, London. (March) [Paper presented]
‘New Spectatorial Theories for Global Spectacles,” Plenary Session,
Dance and Spectacle, SDHS annual conference, University of Surrey,
Guildford (June) [Invited Speaker on Plenary Panel]]
‘World Enunciations and Intercultural Dialogue, (1930-1950)’. Bharat
Britain: South Asians Making Britain, 1870-1950 conference. British
Library, London. (September) [Invited speaker]
“Dance Dialogues on the World Stage,” Srinidi Arts Festival, Bharatiya
Vidya Bhavan, Chennia Arts Festival (Dec) [invited Speaker]
Featured Lecture at the International Symposium entitled “Cultural
Identities, Artistic Identities: From Bombay to Tokyo,” Centre National
De La Danse, Paris, January 11-14.
Release of Edited book by Honourable President of India President,
March, 14. Presented Short Lecture on the making of the book at the
Rastrapathi Bhavan, New Delhi.
Invited lecture at Swarthmore College, entitled “Transnationalism in
Indian Performing Arts,” March 29.
Conference Paper at PSi conference at Brown University,
Rhode Island, entitled “Performing Disjunctures Seamlessly: The Case of
the Cosmopolitan Bharatanatyam Dancer,” March 29-3rd April.
Invited Paper at “Towards Tomorrow International
Conference at Abersytswyth, Wales, entitled “Towards
Tomorrow: The Creation of Interdisciplinary Asian Arts Pedagogy, April
Invited Paper at SOAS entitled” If the Dance Could Speak”? April 23.
Conference Paper at a symposium on Cross-Cultural,
Intercultural and Post Colonial Theatre at Royal Holloway,
entitled “Interdisciplinarity in Higher Education,” May 13.
7.
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2005
2004
2004
2003
2003
2003
2003
2003
2003
2003
2003
2003
2003
2003
2002
2002
Presented Research Seminar at the University of Roehamtpon, May 26.
Presented a keynote lecture at the international Octoberdance
conference in Bergen, Norway entitled “The relevance of Dance in a
Broader Political and Social Context,” Bergen October 15-16.
“Transculturation and the Enunciation of Multiple Identities: An Asian
Case-Study.” Summer Institute Organized by the Center for Global
Culture and Communication, Northwestern University, June 27-July 3.
Theme: Transnational Flows of Performance: Identity in the Age of
Globalization.
Presented the Sixth Rukmini Devi Memorial Lecture, organized in
collaboration with Asialink, Sidney Meyer Asia Center, Melbourne Institute
of Asian Languages and Societies, Center for Contemporary Culture and the
University of Melbourne, Australia. Venue: Yasuko Hiraoka Myer Room,
Level 1, Sidney Myer Asia Center, University of Melbourne, Australia,
August 26.
Presented the Fifth Rukmini Devi Memorial Lecture, Sophia University,
Tokyo, Japan, June 6.
Invited Lecture entitled “New Global Paradigms for South Asian Dance and
Performance,” in the School of English and Performance Studies, De
Montfort University, Leicester, UK, May 19.
Invited Lecture entitled “Annie Besant, Theosophy and Intercultural
Interventions in South India,” in the Department of Drama, University of
Bristol, UK, May 14.
Presented the Fourth Rukmini Devi Memorial Lecture, organized in
collaboration with the Nehru Centre, London. Venue: The Nehru Center,
May 3.
Invited Lecture entitled “Global Flows and Local Transformations,”
Devadasis (Women Storytellers), Translation and Social Change in Modern
India,” co-sponsored by the Department of Middle East and Asian
Languages and Cultures, and the History Department, Columbia University,
Thursday, April 10.
Invited Lecture entitled “Nation, Woman, Representation,” in the
Department of Dance, Wesleyan University, April 8.
Invited Lecture “Subaltern Women and Social Change in Modern India,”
sponsored by Asian Studies Program, Mount Holyoke College, April 7.
Presented the Third Rukmini Devi Memorial Lecture, Organized by the
Department of Arts, Peradeniya University, Kandy, February 7.
Presented the Second Rukmini Devi Memorial Lecture, organized by the
British Council, Colombo, February 5.
Presented the First Rukmini Devi Memorial Lecture, organized by
International Institute for Ethnic Studies, Colombo, February 3.
Invited Lecture entitled “Arts and Cultures of India,” in the Practice
Performing Arts School, Singapore, August 31.
Invited Lecture entitled “Interdisciplinarity: Issues and Challenges,” in the
Women’s Studies Program, Claremont College, Pomona, September 20
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2002
2002
2002
2002
2002
2002
2002
2001
Invited Lecture entitled “The Question of History in Indian Culture and the
Performing Arts,” in the Department of Theatre, Film, and Television,
UCLA, Oct 1.
Invited Lecture entitled “Global Paradigms for Indian Culture and
Performance,” In the Dance Program, Duke University, North Carolina,
February 24.
Invited Lecture entitled “Global Paradigms for Indian Culture and
Performance,” in the Department of Dramatic Art, University of California,
Santa Barbara, February 14.
Invited Lecture entitled “The Global Legacy of Rukmini Devi,” In the Indira
Gandhi Center for the Performing Arts, New Delhi, May 10.
Invited Lecture entitled “Global Institutions in India,” In SpicMackay Silver
Jubilee Celebrations, New Delhi, April 27.
Invited Lecture entitled “The Global Legacy of Rukmini Devi,” In Rukmini
Devi Arundale: A Retrospective, organized by Sutra Dance Theatre, Kuala
Lumpur, March 9.
Invited Lecture entitled “Uday Shankar and the Question of the Modern,” in
the Indira Gandhi National Center for the Performing Arts, New Delhi, Dec
29
Invited Lecture entitled “Visions and Institutions,” in Representing Rukmini
Devi, A Retrospective,” organized by the Center for Contemporary Culture,
New Delhi, May 5.
PERFORMANCE AWARDS AND GRANTS
1999-2000
1998-1999
1996-1997
1992-1993.
1993-1994.
Received Senior Fellowship, from Government of India, for regional
adaptation of post-colonial English language play entitled God Has Changed
His Name.
Received Staging Grant from the Department of Culture, New Delhi, to
stage GHCHN in twenty-four cities across India.
Received Arts Collaboration Grant from the India Foundation for the Arts,
Bangalore to develop a performance script and ensemble theatrical
production titled GHGHN. Artistic collaboration with well-known folk
theatre group known as Koothu-p-pattarai, based in Chennai, South India.
National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) choreography award for
development of Matsya (Fish) as theatre project.
TANA (Telugu Association of North Americas award for contribution to
the performing arts.
PRACTICE AS RESEARCH PERFORMANCES
2005
2005
Practice as Research Project, entitled, “Shattering the Silence,” PSi
conference at Brown University,” March 29-3rd April.
Practice as Research Project, entitled, “Shattering the
Silence” at Royal Holloway, May 9.
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2005
2005
2005
2005
2004:
2004:
2004:
2003
2002
2001
1999
1997
1998
1997
Practice as Research Project, entitled, “Shattering the Silence” in the Centre
for Post Colonial and Transnational Studies, University of Roehampton,
May 10.
Practice as Research Project, entitled, “Shattering the Silence,” in
the Dance Diary University of Roehampton, May 11.
Practice as Research Project, entitled, “Shattering the Silence,” at Parip
Seminar, University of Bristol, May 12
Practice as Research Project, entitled, “What is in a name,” in the Parip
International Conference, University of Leeds, July 1.
Practice as Research Project entitled “The Birth Of Bharatanatyam, in the
Theatre Arts Center, Second Stage Theatre, UC Santa Cruz, June 3,
Premiered Intercultural Dance/Drama/Performance entitled “The Birth Of
Bharatanatyam, in the Theatre Arts Center, Second Stage Theatre, UC
Santa Cruz, June 3,
Premiered Dance/Theatre/Performance entitled Birds of the Banyan Tree
featuring the life of Rukmini Devi Arundale in New Delhi, Bangalore, and
Chennai, March, 2004.
Presented Practice As Research Project entitled “Shattering the Silence: The
Three Women of The Theosophical Society.” in the Theatre Arts Center,
Second Stage, UC Santa Cruz March 7-8.
Staged Reading of Performance Script dealing with the life of Rukmini Devi
entitled Birds of The Banyan Tree presented at the New Delhi Public School
on the occasion of the celebration of World Dance Day, April 30.
Staged Reading of Performance Script dealing with the life of Rukmini Devi
at the Indian Museum, Kolkotta, April 26.
Staged Tamil version of English language postcolonial play entitled GHCHN
in Women’s Christian College, Chennai, April 30.
Scripted, and Directed post-colonial play titled God Has Changed His Name.
The play, revolving around temple dancers known as devadasis, undertook
an Indian national tour between August and Dec 1997. We staged twentyfour performances and presented the play in mainstream theatre venues,
experimental forums, and in schools and colleges across India.
Adapted, directed and acted in post-colonial play entitled God Has Changed
His Name. The play undertook an Indian national tour, August-December.
Twenty-four performances in key cities of India. Performances staged in
mainstream Indian theatre venues and in schools and colleges across India.
Staged ‘Prologue’ of GHCHN in Krishna Ghana Sabha, a well-know
cultural and artistic forum in Chennai, South India, December 18.
SOL0 DANCE/THEATRE PERFORMANCE IN MAINSTREAM VENUES
2003
Thematic Classical Indian Dance Performance in Kuchipudi style of
dancing in the Performing Arts Center, Monash University, Melbourne,
Australia, August 20.
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2003
2003
2003
2003
1969
Thematic Classical Indian Dance Performance in Kuchipudi style of
dancing in Myogi Hurusato Art Museum, Gumma Prefecture, Maebashi,
Japan, May 26.
Thematic Classical Indian Dance Performance in Kuchipudi style of
dancing, Nehru Center, London, April 28th.
Thematic Classical Indian Dance Performance in Kuchipudi style of
dancing, Indian Cultural Centre, Colombo, Sri Lanka, February 6.
Thematic Classical Indian Dance Performance in Kuchipudi style of
dancing, Katiresan Hall, Colombo, Sri Lanka, February 4.
Trained in Indian classical dance, music and drama since age six.
Over sixteen years continuous training in the performing arts of
South India. Over 200 performances in India, West Germany,
Europe and the United States. Professional career as Indian classical
dancer available on request.
PREVIOUS ADMINISTRATIVE EXPERIENCE
2001-2004
1999-2000
1995-1997
1995-1997
Ford Scholar and Academic and Artistic Director, Center for
Contemporary Culture, New Delhi.
Developed conceptual vision and proposal for Cross-School initiative at
Northwestern University and proposed the founding of a Transnational
Performance and Asian Arts Institute at Northwestern University.
Founder-Member, Indians in American Media (IAM), Los Angeles.
Member Federation of Indo-Americans. (FIA), Los Angeles.
TRAVELLING EXHIBITIONS
2003
2003
2003
2003
Curator, Re-presenting Rukmini Devi Arundale (1904-1986): A
Retrospective Photo-Exhibition, Yasuko Hiraoka Myer Room, Level 1,
Sidney Myer Asia Center, University of Melbourne, Australia, August 25-29
Exhibition sponsored in collaboration with the Center for Contemporary
Culture, New Delhi, Asialink, Sidney Meyer Asia Center, Melbourne
Institute of Asian Languages and Societies, and University of Melbourne,
Australia.
Curator, Re-presenting Rukmini Devi Arundale (1904-1986): A
Retrospective Photo-Exhibition, the Drama, Theatre, and Performing Arts
Center, Monash University, Melbourne, Australia, August 18-22.
Curator, Re-presenting Rukmini Devi Arundale (1904-1986): A
Retrospective Photo-Exhibition, Myogi Hurusato Art Museum, Gumma
Prefecture, Maebashi, Japan, May 26-30.
Curator, Re-presenting Rukmini Devi Arundale (1904-1986): A
Retrospective Photo-Exhibition, Kudan Shakai Kyoiku Kaikan, Tokyo, June
3-8. Exhibition organized in collaboration with Indo-Japan Association, and
Embassy of India.
14
2003
2003
2003
2002
2002
2002
2002
2001
2001
Curator, Re-presenting Rukmini Devi Arundale (1904-1986): A
Retrospective Photo-Exhibition, the Nehru Centre, London, April 28-May 6
Curator, Re-presenting Rukmini Devi Arundale (1904-1986): A
Retrospective Photo-Exhibition, Alliance Francaise, Kandy, February 812.
Curator, Re-presenting Rukmini Devi Arundale (1904-1986): A
Retrospective Photo-Exhibition, Indian Cultural Center, Colombo,
February1-6.
Curator, Re-presenting Rukmini Devi Arundale (1904-1986): A
Retrospective, Photo-Exhibition, Sutra Dance Gallery, Kuala Lumpur,
Malaysia, March 10-15.
Curator, Re-presenting Rukmini Devi Arundale (1904-1986): A
Retrospective, Photo-Exhibition, Substation Art Gallery, Singapore, April
10-15.
Curator, Re-presenting Rukmini Devi Arundale (1904-1986): A
Retrospective, Photo-Exhibition, organized by Center for Contemporary
Culture, In SpickMacay, New Delhi, April 17-24.
Curator, Re-presenting Rukmini Devi Arundale (1904-1986): A
Retrospective, Photo-Exhibition, organized by Center for Contemporary
Culture, Sutra Dance Gallery, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, March 10-15.
Curator, Re-presenting Rukmini Devi Arundale (1904-1986): A
Retrospective, Photo-Exhibition, organized by Center for Contemporary
Culture, Indian Museum, Kolkotta, April 26 -May 1.
Curator, Re-presenting Rukmini Devi Arundale (1904-1986): A
Retrospective. Photo-Exhibition, organized in collaboration with Rukmini
Devi Arundale Trust, Chennai, and the Center for Contemporary Culture,
New Delhi. Venue: India International Center, Art Gallery, Annexe, New
Delhi. March 1-5.
CONFERENCE COORDINATOR
2003
2002
2002
2001
Organizer, International Seminar entitled “Rukmini Devi’s Aesthetic
Legacy in the UK,” in collaboration with the Nehru Centre, London,
Society of Dance Research Scholars (SDRS), London, and AHRMB CrossCultural Center for Music and Dance Research, University of Surrey.
Venue: the Nehru Center, London, May 1st.
Organizer, International Seminar entitled “Bharatanatyam in
Multicultural Singapore: Issues and Challenges” in collaboration with
Center for Contemporary Culture and the Indian Fine Arts Society,
Singapore. Venue: the Sub Station Art Gallery, Singapore, April 13.
Organizer, International Seminar entitled “Rukmini Devi: A Reappraisal
in Malaysia,”organized by the Center for Contemporary Culture and Sutra
Dance Gallery, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Venue Sutra Dance Gallery,
March 15.
Organizer, Indian National Seminar entitled “ Rabindranath Tagore and
Rukmini Devi: Visions and Institutions,” in collaboration with the Center
15
2001
for Contemporary Culture, Viswa Bharati and the Indian Museum,
Kolkotta. Venue: Indian Museum, Kolkotta, May 1.
Organizer, Indian National Seminar entitled “Rukmini Devi’s Aesthetic
Legacy,” in collaboration with the Center for Contemporary Culture,
Venue: India International Center, Art Gallery, Annexe, New Delhi.
March 1.
CONSULTANCY EXPERTISE
Academic and Artistic Director Centre for Contemporary Culture, New Delhi;
Curatorial expertise; organizer of conferences; linking arts with higher education;
developing new arts pedagogy
INFLUENCE AND RECOGNTION
2005
2005
2005
Reviewer/Evaluator for the Arts and Humanities Research Council
Fellowship in Performing Arts.
Committee Member for the Gertrude Lippincott Award to award Best
Essay/Article written in the field of Dance Studies
The Honourable President of India, Shri Abdul Kalam Azad, released Dr.
Meduri’s edited volume featuring the work and vision of Rukmini Devi
Arundale, (1904-1986) a Visionary Architect of Indian Culture and the
Performing Arts at the Presidential House (Rashtrapathi Bhavan) on March
14, 2005.