Since being listed as intangible cultural heritage by UNESCO in 2010, Kalbeliya dance from Rajasthan is now generally conceptualized as an ancient tradition from India. However, this same dance practice, also known as a form of “Indian Gypsy” or “snake charmers’” folk dance, appears to have originated as recently as the 1980s. This article gives an account of the swift development of Kalbeliya dance from its first appearance on stage in 1981 to the present. Ethnographic research with Kalbeliya dancers’ families has elucidated how this inventive dance practice was formed to fit into national and transnational narratives with the aim of commercializing it globally and of generating a new, lucrative livelihood for these Kalbeliya families. As a new cultural product of Rajasthani fusion, the dance finds itself at the crossroads of commercial tourism and political folklorism and is grounded in neo-orientalist discourses (romanticism and exoticism).
Despite the creation of the Kalbeliya (Kālbeliyā) dance form in the 1980s, it was recognized as a UNESCO intangible cultural heritage in 2010. Rajasthani “Gypsy” performances, featuring a dance designed by the nomadic Kalbeliya community, have quickly become popular among tourists in India as well as on Western world music stages. The state of Rajasthan, where the Kalbeliyas hail from, is celebrated as “India’s heritage state” by the Indian government as it seeks to promote tourism and the international dissemination of Indian culture through performances and festivals. In this paper, I sketch the history of the Kalbeliya dance form from its origins in the 1980s through to the UNESCO nomination in 2010. Moreover, I discuss the effects of its recognition as a world heritage dance tradition. The official approval of the Kalbeliya dance form as a heritage activity further highlights the challenges to UNESCO’s candidate selection process. This paper aims to explain the reasons for the nomination of the Kalbeliya dance form (how and why UNESCO was persuaded to recognize it as a suitable candidate) by connecting this to the continued processes of nationalism and romanticism, the economic strategies adopted by the cultural tourism industry and the commodification and commercialization of Indian folk arts.
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