India has been struggling with mixed emotions about women and dancers for most of its history. The most common reaction among its people has been a visceral negative attitude with regard to actresses and dancers. Despite the commonly held negative perceptions of the performers themselves, most Indians appreciate the art itself. Dance, as a unique expression that embodies all the Indian arts, holds a proud position in India's national cultural heritage. Whether it is the roles they play or their personal lives and experiences, female performers, as public and popular examples, influence the lives of Indian women at large. They are at the forefront of the India's social revolution.

Each region of India is culturally distinct and within each region there are further divisions according to caste and religion. There are approximately thirty-three major languages and thousands of dialects. The most significant division is between the Indo-Iranian languages of the north and the Dravidian languages of the south. These two language groups are unrelated except for loan words. Eastern languages, such as Meitei, are unrelated to either of the two major groups. Often, the underlying factors in the recurring political and territorial conflicts afflicting the sub-continent are to be found along language boundaries and religious divides.

Another important point to consider when discussing Indian culture is that before the European colonists established the present-day borders, the original "India" encompassed a much wider terrain, including Pakistan, Bangladesh, and parts of Myanmar (Burma). Its influence extended throughout Southeast Asia and it still has close cultural ties with Nepal, Bhutan, and Sri Lanka. Until India achieved independence in 1947, it was never a unified nation in the modern sense, but rather a collection of kingdoms with various alliances, which changed throughout history.

One common thread among all of these societal and cultural differences, which together make up the fabric of India, is the way in which female performers/dancers are perceived and treated by society at large. The image of the dancer as courtesan/prostitute cannot yet be erased; but this perception can now be recognized and examined. In each region where a particular dance style emerged, questions arose about the characters and extra-curricular activities of the individual dancers. Manipur provides the exception that proves the rule. The women of this region have their own wealth in the form of textiles, which they produce and the profits from which are theirs to keep, and prostitution is rare. Because it is customary in Manipur for everyone, male and female, to participate in dance rituals, there is no separate class of dancing women who have an alternative life-style, which can be scrutinized and criticized. It is a region isolated from the rest of India, and the dance falls outside of what is commonly known as the Natya Shastra tradition. While Manipuris do not view their own dancers in a negative light, it cannot be said that the rest of India does not view them in such a way.

Women in India are regarded as more than simply half of the gender equation. Their importance stems from their status as mothers who are capable of perpetuating the human race. Hinduism requires its followers to marry and produce sons who will perform the funeral rites, which ensure their parents' passage into the next life. Women are also earthly manifestations of the goddess. India is perhaps the last living center of goddess worship in the world today. The goddess in India is seen as both the mother of the human race and as an avenging warrior. These two facets of the goddesses' power lie at the root of the contradictory attitudes toward women in society.

Women are revered for their virtue, but they are also feared because of the power of their sexuality. As if this dual perception were not complex enough, woman, who is exhibited as the emblem of her family's status, must also be carefully controlled as the potential bearer of the family's offspring, most particularly of sons. Sons alone can guarantee their parents' place in the next life. Producing a son is the very reason for a wife's existence.

The images of women in Indian dance in both the classical and popular realms reveal Indian society's dual perception of the status of women. In India, just as in the rest of the world, female performers are an anomaly. They are subjects for envy, admiration, and vilification. They are powerful, independent women, glamorous and sometimes wealthy, yet their sexuality is simultaneously alluring and threatening. Dance is a powerful art form that assaults the senses with color and rhythm. It is evocative, conjuring up complex emotions in the viewer, with the dancer as the catalyst.

The fundamental problem is precisely the fact that the female performer lays herself bare to the projections of the repressed fantasies of both men and women. Any female whose body is material for public performance encounters this dilemma. Many potential female performers are even dissuaded by this situation from pursuing professional careers in the performing arts. Dancers are particularly vulnerable to this state of affairs as the body is not only the tool, but the medium of their artistic expression. Although less obvious in the West than in some traditional cultures, this situation is undeniably present for all female performers of dance. The position of women in the arts, in fact, is a microcosm of women's ambiguous place in Indian life.

The axiom that India is a country of extremes is vividly underscored in the case of women. India's complex and diverse traditions exist simultaneously: urban-rural, rich-poor, intellectual-illiterate. It is a country in which strict discipline exists alongside anarchy and where erotic art exists alongside asceticism. Indians are bound by convention, yet possess a glorious individuality. No wonder then that the position and, equally important, the perception of women in Indian society is also characterized by such complex duality and reveals itself as a pattern of extremes.

Indian society is modeled on the family structure, and the mother is the pivotal member of the group. Every form of address, during daily social commerce, implies a fictive relationship such as brother, sister, uncle, and auntie. In this scheme of society as family, the nation is the mother, "Bharat Mata" (Mother India). The Indian woman is the repository of virtue, purity, and honor, not only in individuals, but in society at large. This unique position gives women impressive powers. As long as their sexuality is properly channeled within the family structure, they are respected.

Indian mythology is rife with extreme images of women. Sita, the virtuous wife, who went through fire to prove her purity, contrasts with Menaka, the dancing temptress who robbed the sage Vishwamitra of his power. There is also Kali Ma/Durga, the murderous goddess-mother figure. In her so-called "black" manifestation, she is the embodiment of awesome spiritual power that manifests itself in a blood-thirsty rage, while in her "white" character, she is the fount of motherly love and caring.

The phenomenon of the dancer reflects, and to some extent unites these extremes and complexities in both performance and life. The dancer not only enacts the dramas and stories derived from mythology on stage, but also lives them. She cannot escape the consequences of her career choice in her private life. The dancer is an alluring, yet intimidating figure that embodies the spirit of female sexuality.

How is it that a dancer in India can be regarded as both a goddess and a whore? The fact is that in India, the sacred and profane sometimes overlap in unexpected ways. Take, for example, the Devadasi, or temple dancer, long romanticized in both Eastern and Western imagination. She was married to god and danced in the temple, yet sometimes catered to temple patrons. She was an accomplished artist, for which she was revered, yet she was not allowed to participate in society as a normal woman. Another traditional Indian female performer, whose origins pre-date those of the Devadasi, was the courtesan. A highly trained artist, she combined music, dance, poetry, courtly etiquette, and the arts of love. India's earliest professional dancers were employed in the service of emperors and kings.

The dancers of the present day inherited the mantle of the Devadasis and courtesans. As a result, they have struggled to overcome the social stigma attached to them as public women or "dancing girls." Since the revival of classical dance in the twentieth century, dancers have tried to establish a new social status, which would permit them to practice their art without sacrificing their respectability.

Even in the beginning of the twenty-first century, the struggle to establish dance as a respectable profession is still a part of every female performer's life. There are varying degrees of acceptance of dance as a profession even among India's urban upper classes. Although dances of all kinds are a popular form of entertainment, and there is no stigma attached to watching dance on stage and screen, moral questions arise when a family member is directly involved. Starting in the 1920's, courageous women of the highest classes were instrumental in bringing dance to its current level of respectability; yet issues about the propriety of having a dancer in the family remain even today. From the beginning, only women of the urban elite had the education and potential freedom to even consider pursuing dance as a career. Only they, because of their status in society, could imbue dance with an aura of respectability.

For the vast majority of India's population, the urban poor and the eighty percent who live outside of large cities, dance remains a fantasy rather than a career alternative. For most, it is not even a possible hobby. The only exceptions are those from traditional dance families or castes. Among the upper classes, there are still many conservative families that would never countenance a professional dancer in the family. The varying levels of acceptance include those families that allow girls to learn dance only before marriage; those who would allow a daughter-in-law to teach dance, but not perform publicly; those that would encourage classical dance training as long as it does not include film participation; those least conservative that place no limits; and those who ban the art completely.

The strain of overpopulation and industrialization has taken its toll on the national heritage of India. Modern restoration techniques have only recently been introduced. Consequently, many ancient treasures have been and continue to be lost. Manuscripts, miniature paintings, and monuments are rapidly disintegrating. The performing arts, in the form of dance and music, are crucial windows on the past. They survive because of the determination of the practitioners, the appreciation of the audience, and a strong oral tradition rooted in the guru/student relationship. When the monuments of the past have gone, dance will remain.