Introduction  Part I: Caste, Community and performance 

1. A ritual performance of Kerala, Vayala Vasudevan Pillai
2. The Patuas of Bengal, Makbul Islam
3. Bards and goddesses: The Pombalas in Tirupati, Anand Akundy
4. Explorations in the art forms of the Cindu madigas in Andhra, Y A Sudhakar Reddy and R R Harischandra
5. Caste identity and performance in a fisher-village of Assam, Kishore Bhattacharjee

Part II: Performance Beyond Caste

6. Telugu pady natakam in Andhra: Performance dynamics, P Subbachary
7. Modernising tradition: The yaksagana in Karnataka, Guru Rao Bapat
8. Kalarippayatt as aesthetics and the politics of invisibility in Kerala, P K Sasidharan
9. India People’s Theatre Association in colonial Andhra, V Ramakrishna
10. Gaddar and the politics and pain of singing, D Venkat Rao
11. Reviving moghal tamsa in Orissa, Sachi Mohanty

Part III: Classical Dance and its Successors

12. New directions in Indian dance, Sunil Kothari
13. Transpositions in kuchipudi dance, Aruna Bhikshu
14. The impact of commercialization in dance, K Subadra Murthy
15. Art addressing social problems, Ananda Shankar Jayant