W@TC. Dancing with the Goddess: the Ras-Garba Traditions of Gujarat, India

¿Dancing with the Goddess¿ is an ethnographic film focusing on the religious performative traditions of Goddess worship in Gujarat, India with particular attention to the Ras and Garba dances. Garba is a circle dance signifying the eternity or circle of life and performed by women. In the last few decades, however, the impact of globalization, has spawned a diminution of religious practices of the garba and an increasing popularity of the ¿modernized¿ secular versions of the dance. The film exemplifies these transformations and questions theramifications pertaining to the survival of the obscured symbolic meanings and religious connections of this performative genre with ancient traditions of Goddess worship in Gujarat.Trailer: http://vimeo.com/45917185Presented by Duke University Dance Program in collaboration with the Department of Religion and the Center for South Asian Studies at DukeLight lunch will be served