Present choreography tries to understand the life worlds of Muslim Classical Dancers in South Asia. .Classical dance forms in India are considered to be one of the artistic cultural expressions in performative tradition which are recognised by Sangeet Natak Akademy and the Ministry of Culture, Government of India. Apart from recognition, classical dance forms become the epitome of cultural expression in India even in the global community. Natya Shastra a Hinduistic Scripture written by Bharatan considered as the theoretical base for performative tradition in many Indian classical dance forms The historical trajectory of classical dance is complex in a way that, on the one hand, become expressive symbols of deep cultural nationalism and heritage politics for a select group of performers,nationalists and commentators which are mostly caste Hindus and the privileged sections of the society. And on the other, they recurrently embody early twentieth century histories of social erasure, cultural exclusion, censorship marginalization, ghettoization and othering. As classical dance forms have a deep rooted brahmanical tradition, non caste Hindus and other communities including Muslims find it challenging to have an access to these forms and performing spaces. The researcher, being a classical dance practitioner, tries to document the experiences of Muslim classical dancers through choreography. The choreography looks at the complex experiences of Muslim classical dancers as an outcome of a social enquiry conducted among Muslim classical dancers through in depth interviews and other qualitative data sources.
