Chant the Names of God

Capwell, Charles; Henry, Edward O.

doi:10.2307/833938

Cited by 2 publications

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“…At low-caste gatherings women sometimes cluster near or around the band and dance with other women, or rarely, male kin, in this style. 33 The music that accompanies the dance is often a collage of several themes and lyrics from different genres. In one of the songs from a Kahar wedding, which Henry describes as 'appropriate for such dancing', there exists 'the desperate longing of the gopis for Krishna, which occurs as a refrain throughout'.…”

Section: Indiamentioning

confidence: 99%

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Krishna kee bansi bhajay

Stewart

2022

JIL

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Nachania (नचंनिया), translated as ‘female dancer’, refers to both a traditional Indo-Jamaican folk dance that has local origins in indentureship, and to those who perform it. The dance is characterized by flamboyant flailing hands, counterbalanced by acrobatic feats and yogic moments synchronous with beat drops. Its unbound choreography salvages important religio-cultural and historical narratives through ecstatic paroxysmal dance often with sexual overtones. This performance is important in ritualized and celebratory spaces to entertain crowds. While performing, Nachanias would have money launched at them, and they would sometimes engage men in dance. The performers were, and still are, frequently men who assume a different gendered role garbed in conscious ‘feminizing’ technologies such as make-up, jewellery and a frock. Especially during indentureship and the period immediately after, it was ‘vulgar’ for women to dance publicly or perform at religious ceremonies. Early women Nachanias were read as tainted spectacles, some of whom the archives record as professional ‘entertainers’. Inspired by the author’s curiosity, Indo-Jamaican identity, observations of Nachania and discourses with Ghanesh Maragh (one of the few contemporary performers of this artform), this article casts Indo-Jamaicans into the unbound erotic gendered tradition of Jamaica and indentureship by (a) tracing the (inter)religious, gendered, and historical anatomy of the lauded folk performance from the period of indentureship to the present in Jamaica and the Indo-Jamaican diaspora; (b) exploring themes of bidesia; and (c) examining possible problems with situating Nachania within categories of queer.

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Section: Indiamentioning

confidence: 99%

“…They satisfy their desire in the images of Krishna and Radha.' 34 I emphasize here how the Journal of Indentureship 2.2 December 2022 'launda' is tasked with the ritual enactment of themes of (sexual) desire and longing, all the while being understood as male costumed in 'feminizing' technologies.…”

Section: Indiamentioning

confidence: 99%