Contemporary Indian Dance, now available in paperback, delineates a new language of dance - multi-layered and multi-vocal - in India and the diaspora. This language unfolds at the intersection of classical Indian dance forms with yoga, pan-Asian dance and martial arts traditions as well as modern and postmodern dance, and theatrical tools that result in hybrid dance creations. Cutting-edge themes - ethnicity, gender and sexuality - are inspired by artists' geographical locations in the global North or South.

This study is grounded historically (the revival of Indian dance in early 20th century), and examines today's phenomena of globalization and diaspora that impact artists in India and worldwide. It includes creative choreography (with over 30 images) from selected artists and pioneers that has impact and reverberates in 'an ancestry of gesture' in the work of emerging choreographers. An interdisciplinary and comparative approach makes visible inter-connections among artists in sites as distant and disparate as Toronto to Chennai, and London to Los Angeles.