Fifteenth International Conference on Interdisciplinary Social Sciences

Abstract

The state of dance in Pakistan has deteriorated of late. However, back in the 1960s, there were over fifty dance institutions in Karachi alone but due to the stigmatization of this art form, choreographers have retreated from the public space to a large extent and now prefer to give private lessons (Kothari 2010). There are myriad reasons for the diminution of classical dance in the Pakistani context today but the trend first set pace during Zia-Ul-Haq’s era when he banned public dance performances in 1981 and decreed the cancellation of choreographer Nahid Siddiqi’s classical dance program “Payal” from PTV. Though his regime is long over, his Islamist ideologies echo to the present day and hence classical dance is still frowned upon in a Muslim majority community. This lack of exposure has left Pakistanis deprived of an integral part of their culture. This is evident from the fact that most people cannot differentiate between Odissi, Bharatanatyam, and Kathak, amalgamating these different styles under the umbrella of Classical Dance. Promoting dance and providing protection, both physical and socioeconomic, to dancers in Pakistan is necessary for the preservation of our ancient culture and rich heritage. This is contingent upon the transmission of a vocabulary of movements and not physical artefacts. In this study,I further examine the causes behind the stigmatization of Classical dance in Pakistan. I explore possible promotion strategies in the context of cultural policy, which is something that Pakistan only recently developed.