In general discourse on cultural representation, dance tends to be absent and its contribution to the cultural life of society and its specific role in the social production of gender identity are largely ignored (1). When feminist scholars have addressed dance, the focus has tended to be on ballet as a “high” art form has been significant in forming ideological constructs of an idealised femininity. The following exposition aims to extend the debate by offering a case study located in the Victorian/Edwardian era, when ballet was the main attraction at the rival Alhambra and Empire palaces of varieties in London's Leicester Square. An examination of the period reveals the complexities of the representations of women in the ballet and demonstrates that, whilst the ideology of the dominant culture is embodied in the body of the dancer, that ideology is not singular but plural. It is argued that such a plurality is not at odds, but is commensurate with, co-existing notions of femininity (2).

In the following study, methods developed within feminist film theory of deconstructing the gaze are applied to “read” abhinaya (the narrational component in Indian classical dancing)(1) and the performer-audience relationship. The study has yielded an alternative model to Kaplan's model of an inevitable male gaze and a performance mechanism for generating transcendence. It also shows that decontextualised readings of dance can yield very different meanings from the readings that consider the religio-aesthetic environment of Indian dance. European-American perceptions informed by Freud and Lacan recognize the power of seeing and its relationship to knowing, so also do yogic theories of perception and the cosmological view of existence that informs the Indian dance. Examining one way of looking through another way of looking may yield fascinating connections and insights, but it also has limitations. The two perspectives cannot be equated. Each view has value-laden socio-cultural orientations which must be considered.

According to Indian theories of aesthetics and perception, looking (drishti) as evident in Indian Classical Dance, is integrally linked with cognizing form (rupa) and naming (nāma). Mastery of abhinaya necessarily involves the ability to direct the audience's sensibilities towards a particular perception through the use of eye movements. The eyes are used not just for “looking” at, or responding to another imaginary character. The focused gaze directs attention to an action, a place or a part of the body. This cues observers to “see” what they are supposed to see. Thus the spaces between the sounds of tatkar (rhythmic footwork) of the Kathak performer are emphasized and translated into a visual dimension, by swift directional changes of the performer's head and gaze. Occasionally the hands too will “draw” the pattern of the rhythms (2).

As a doctoral candidate in anthropology preparing for field research among the Navajo, I surveyed the literature of cognitive anthropology (a subdiscipline of cultural anthropology) searching for analytical tools and methods that might suit my research needs. This inquiry led to the development of an experimental project, which is the subject of this article. I will begin with a brief account of my research problems and follow with a description of the experimental project, including a discussion of problems encountered and lessons learned.

The subject of my field research is: “The Role of ‘dance’ (alzhish) in Navajo Curing Ceremonials.” Portions of Navajo ceremonials were labeled “dance” by early researchers, presumably because they fit the Western concept—movement accompanied by music (drumming and singing) and performed before an audience. The Navajo call this component alzhish. The meaning of this term has not been investigated. We do not know how the other parts of a ceremony are labeled, and we do not know why this group of actions receives this label and not a different one. I devised three questions for exploring this domain: 1) What is alzhish? 2) What is the ceremonial function of alzhish? 3) How is that function achieved?

A special Fall 1993 issue of Time magazine titled “The New Face of America. How Immigrants Are Shaping the World's First Multicultural Society” examines the explosion of the immigrant population in the United States. The editors tell us:

In the small island state of Hawai‘i the intermixing of cultures simultaneous with retaining individual identities has long been a fact of life. At the same time awareness of ethnic identity and native rights is increasing nationwide, Hawai‘i is experiencing a push for sovereignty from some sectors of its population together with a continuation, from other sectors, of public displays of ethnic identity of many different peoples that have been part of daily life for many years. As the strands of this ethnic tapestry continue to weave their way into the fabric of this island state, dance is one cultural manifestation that has become an integral part of the visible pattern and a reflection—or rather, embodiment—of issues relating to identity.