The Construction of the Indian Dancer Character (Bayadère) on the European Stage (1681-1798)”
(Tiziana Leucci)

Since the end of the 13th century, Indian dancers have been attracting the attention of European travellers in Asia. Describing them as “seductive women” and “skilled courtesans” who danced in temples and royal courts, the travellers’accounts inspired poets, musicians and choreographers in their own countries. A number of poems, plays, operas and ballets composed in Europe, build up the theatrical character of the “Indian Dancer”, commonly known as “bayadère”. The present paper traces the genesis of this character in operas and ballets through the analysis of travellers’ books, librettos and related iconographic material (miniatures, props, costumes, paintings, etc.). Starting from being a mere ‘exotic’ curiosity among other nymphs, Arcadian shepherds, etc., the “Indian dancers”, soon became the subject of animated debats in philosophical Enlightment circles, and perceived mainly as “victims” of local religious superstitions. On the stage, during the entire 18th century, “Indian dancers” are constantly present in every play on Indian topic, but still as undifferenciated parts played by the members of the corps de ballet. Yet, in some dramas we find the first examples of leading roles of an Indian female character, mirroring all the contemporary debates dealing mostly with anticlericalism, colonialism and universalism of human rights. Only at the end of the 18th century the different aspects concerning the Indian woman as “dancer” get assembled and cast her major theatrical features on the European stage. Finally, after been immortalized by the famous ballade Der Gott und die Bajadere Indische Legende composed by German poet J. W. Goethe on 1797 and published on 1798, the “bayadère” becomes one of the first tragic Romantic heroines.

Tiziana Leucci, Les Lilas, France:

Born in Rome, Tiziana Leucci studied ballet and contemporary dance at the National Academy of Dance, Rome. On 1987 she graduated in History of Performing Arts and Indology at the University of Bolognain Italy, with a dissertation on  Indian Dance. With the help of scholarships granted by the Italian and Indian Governments, she has spent twelve years in India (1987-99) to do research and to learn Bharata Nâtyam and Odissi dance styles under the guidance of V.S. Muthuswamy Pillai and Kelucharan Mohapatra. A lecturer of Italian Language and Literature at Madras University (India), in 2000 she moved to France to complete a PhD thesis in Social Anthropology on the artistic and socio-religious tradition of Indian temple and court dancers (devadâsî and rajadâsî) at the Ecole des Hautes Etudes en Sciences Sociales (EHESS), Paris. She collaborates with Universities, Research Centers, Conservatoires of Music and Museums in India and Europe. She is a member of the International Dance Council of Unesco (CID), Paris, and the Italian Association of Dance Research (AIRDanza), Rome. Author of several articles on dance history and anthropology, she wrote a monography titled “Devadâsî and Bayadères: between History and Legend.” CLUEB-University of Bologna Press, Bologna 2005 (319 pages),  used as text book for the examination in History of Dance and Indology at the University of Bologna. Tiziana Leucci is also a performer and dance teacher.