If you are Indian American, dancing is more than just a "hobby." It's a blood sport. How someone hasn't already made a reality TV show about the national Bollywood, Bhangra, and Raas competitions we all end up doing is a mystery to me (consider this my pitch, Netflix). Recently, on the Cultured, or Nah? story I posted a poll to ask if Pakistanis and Bangladeshis are also as into dancing as Indians. The results that came in explored a lot of nuance that goes back to how dance in India originally started, and the history of dance in itself. Most classical dances of India pre-date Jesus Christ! In this fascinating conversation, Shabnum sits down with Sudha Grover and Rohit Gijare to understand the history of Indian classical dance, the cultural spillover (or lack thereof) into Pakistani and Bangladeshi communities, and the reasons why dance as a phenomenon has pervaded Indian Americans disproportionately to other Indians around the world!
Host: Shabnum Gulati
Guests: Sudha Grover, Rohit Gijare
Illustration: Hanifa Abdul Hameed
Music: AnAkkiN on Soundcloud