Skip to main content

Donovan Roebert

Followers

95

Following

0

Public Views

Donovan Roebert is an artist and novelist.

He founded and was director of the South African Friends of Tibet from 2000 to 2012.

He taught Buddhist theory and practice from 2007 to 2011.

Published novels :

Lama Charlie’s Big Bang and Whimper, Contact Publishing, London, 2010.

The Odissi Girl, Rupa Books, New Delhi, 2011.

The Liberators, Piraeus Books, Williamstown, Mass., 2013.

Published Non-Fiction :

Samdhong Rinpoche : Uncompromising Truth for a Compromised World, World Wisdom, Eugene, Or., 2006.

The Gospel for Buddhists and the Dharma for Christians, Wipf & Stock, Eugene, Or., 2009.

The View of Selfhood in Buddhism and Modern Psychology, in Psychology and the Perennial Wisdom, Studies in Comparative Religion, World Wisdom, Eugene, Or., 2013.

The Bearing of Culture on an Inhumane Society, LAP Publishing, Germany.

Essays on Classical Indian Dance, Jenny Stanford Publishing, Singapore, 2021.

Western Texts on Indian Dance: An Illustrated Guide from 1298 to 1930, Jenny Stanford Publishing, Singapore, 2022.

Also, see my WordPress Blog 'Aspects of Pictorial Indian Dance History':

https://pictorialindiandance.wordpress.com/

Note that all my articles and essays on pictorial Indian dance history are regularly updated with new information at my blog. Some articles at my blog are not uploaded here. My blog is therefore a more complete and more detailed archive of my work than the articles which are found here.
Address: South Africa

less

Interests

Uploads

Videos by Donovan Roebert

The Persecution of Three Aspects of the Hereditary South Indian Dancer in the Late 19th Century

This talk lays out the three grounds on which the person and body of the South Indian hereditary ... more

5 views

Papers by Donovan Roebert

The Kalavant-Bailadeiras of Goa from c. 1540 to c. 1880: Image and Text

Pictorial data for the history of dance in Goa are relatively sparse. They do not come close to t... more Pictorial data for the history of dance in Goa are relatively sparse. They do not come close to the amount of pictures, for example, that we have of dancers in Tamil Nadu. The reasons for this sparsity are not far to seek: dance in Goa, both religious and public, was restricted and persecuted from almost the beginning of Portuguese colonisation, and many dancers were forced by local circumstances to migrate elsewhere.

Some Thoughts on the 'Momentous Transition' of South Indian Dance from the Hands of the Hereditary Artists to Those of the 'Better People'

One of the pressing issues that arose in the immediate aftermath of Dr Muthulakshmi Reddi’s 1930 ... more One of the pressing issues that arose in the immediate aftermath of Dr Muthulakshmi Reddi’s 1930 anti-devadasi bill was the scramble by the so-called ‘Pro-Art’ lobby to save the art of dance from extinction in case the devadasi system should really be abolished, a final step that was in the early 1930s not yet a certainty, but was certainly looming large over the hereditary dance economy.

America and the Nautch Dancers 1: From Marmaduke Borrough to Augustin Daly; 1822-1881

My aim in this two-part article is to provide some insights into the pictorial and textual record... more My aim in this two-part article is to provide some insights into the pictorial and textual records concerning dancers from India who were seen by Americans in India or brought to the United States in the period under review. The pictorial data, scarce though they are, have been gathered over a period of some months, together with some primary source writings that help to elucidate them. I will be dealing with the five main and well-known occasions on which Indian ‘nautch dancers’ were brought out to perform in America by impresarios of the ‘showman’ kind. These occasions were: the production of ‘Zanina’ by Augustin Daly in 1880-1881, the P.T. Barnum ‘Greatest Show on Earth’ and its subsidiary ‘dime museum’ exhibitions which took place in 1884, the Chicago ‘World’s Columbian Exhibition’ of 1893, the 1904 ‘Delhi Durbar’ staged in Luna Park on Coney Island, and the 1906 ‘East India Exposition’, which was part of Carl and Heinrich Hagenbeck’s ‘Greater Shows’ tour of the United States. This first part of the article deals only with the period preceding the P.T. Barnum shows.

Notes on the Photograph of Rajalakshmi and Jeevaratnam, c. 1933

The photograph of the Kalyani daughters, Rajalakshmi and Jeevaratnam, which was produced sometime... more The photograph of the Kalyani daughters, Rajalakshmi and Jeevaratnam, which was produced sometime between 1931 and 1933, is as well known as it is usually unaccompanied by any documented insights into the lives and art of these sisters. The present brief article is an attempt to present some items of information that may help to bring into sharper focus their place as artists and individual personalities in the forced evolution of Bharata Natyam from the 1930s onwards.

Some Very Early Depictions of South Indian Dancers, Part 1: ca. 1540-1600

In this two-part article I will take a cursory look at a set of depictions of South Indian dancer... more In this two-part article I will take a cursory look at a set of depictions of South Indian dancers that were all produced in India across a period of some two centuries, beginning round the middle of the sixteenth. My first intention is to make these pictures known and available to dancers, students and researchers who may not yet have come across them, and to share the relevant sources for those who might want to discuss them in their own work.
The pictures with which I will deal in part 1 are:
1. Dancers represented in the Portuguese Codex 1889 or Códice Casanatense, whose depictions date from circa 1540.
2. South Indian dance postures illustratively represented in the Jawahir al-Musiqat-i Muhammadi, which was originally an illustrated Dakhni rendition of Sarangadeva’s Sangitaratnakara produced by an anonymous writer and artist round the year 1570.
3. The single ‘Balhadeira’ who appears in the depiction of ‘types’ found in Jan Huygen van Linschoten’s Itinerario of 1596, and the reverse prints of the same picture in copies of the work made by the brothers de Bry in 1598.

The 'Nautch Girls' of Edwin Lord Weeks: 1882-1900

Edwin Lord Weeks was the son of a Boston grocer who had made good. His father's prosperity enable... more Edwin Lord Weeks was the son of a Boston grocer who had made good. His father's prosperity enabled the son to finance his period of development as an artist, and to move to Paris, where he studied under Léon Bonnat and Jean-Léon Gérôme, creating a lifelong bond with the École des Beaux-arts. Many of his best paintings of Indian life, landscape and architecture were exhibited at the Paris Salon, and were highly regarded, both by his fellow artists and by art critics in France, Britain and the United States. This article considers his experience with and paintings of the 'nautch girls' or dancers of India.

Salman Rushdie and 'The Satanic Verses' in India: A Brief Critique of Freedom of Speech

This short article considers the reaction of the Government of India to Salman Rushdie's presence... more

The Meagre Pictorial Record of Andhra Devadasis

This article examines a number of pictures that are thought to represent practitioners of the kal... more This article examines a number of pictures that are thought to represent practitioners of the kalavantulu ritual and dance tradition of Andhra Pradesh in the 19th century. It also discusses the dearth of such pictorial representations, and the reasons for confusion of location in archives where these pictures are found.

'Dancing Girls' from the Bombay Presidency: c. 1880-1905

This article discusses pictorial data for dancers depicted in the Bombay Presidency in the period... more

Egron Lundgren's Lucknow Dancers: 1859

This paper examines the paintings of proto-Kathak dancers produced by the artist Egron Lundgren i... more This paper examines the paintings of proto-Kathak dancers produced by the artist Egron Lundgren in Lucknow in the wake of the Indian Rebellion of 1857-1858. Lundgren provides Indian dance historians with an interesting set of watercolours depicting dancers whose choreographies would have been derived from the court dances designed and encourage by Wajid Ali Shah, the erstwhile Nawab of Oudh or Awadh (now Uttar Pradesh)..

More Pictorial Portrayals of Dancers in the Bengal Presidency, c. 1770-1840

In this article, an additional number of pictorial data for dancers in the Bengal Presidency are ... more

Depictions of Dancers in the Bengal Presidency by Three Artists: c.1820-1840

The article examines the pictorial depicitions of proto-kathak and other dancers in the Bengal Pr... more The article examines the pictorial depicitions of proto-kathak and other dancers in the Bengal Presidency under East India Company rule between 1820 and 1840. The artists discussed are Sophie Charlotte Belnos, Capt. Robert Smith, and Sir Charles D'Oyly. This writing also considers the social and cultural context in which these dancers were described in pictures and words.

East India Company Officials and the 'Nautch Girls' of Lucknow and Delhi: 1780-1846: A Pictorial Survey

The thrust of this essay is to deal with the pictorial record showing the association of proto-Ka... more The thrust of this essay is to deal with the pictorial record showing the association of proto-Kathak dancers with East India Company officials who resided and worked in Lucknow and Delhi in the period under review. Much has been written in recent decades about this period in which officials and soldiers of the Company took Indian wives, adopted local dress and manners, and patronized the arts in their places of residence, including the dance. This essay will confine itself to a number of well-known paintings which depict these officials in the enjoyment of dance entertainments, as well as providing some pictures of the dancers themselves. In the main, I will be dealing here with such public figures of the time as Colonel Antoine-Louis-Henri Polier in Lucknow, and Sir David Ochterlony, Raja Hindu Rao, Colonel James Skinner, William Fraser, and Sir Thomas Metcalfe in Delhi, all of whom are pictorially shown to have had dealings with 'nautch troupes'.

The Girl who Became Rukmini Devi: Photographs, c. 1910-1936

The intention of this article is to make available in a single document a number of photographs t... more The intention of this article is to make available in a single document a number of photographs taken in Rukmini Devi Arundale's early years, from her childhood to her first performance of Bharata Natyam in the grounds of the Theosophical Society in Adyar at the end of December 1935. These photographs are accompanied by a brief biographical outline.

Twelve Photographs of Mylapore Gauri Ammal: c. 1945-1970

This article presents and identifies twelve photographs of the hereditary dancer and renowned tea... more This article presents and identifies twelve photographs of the hereditary dancer and renowned teacher of abhinaya, Mylapore Gauri Ammal. It also presents a biographical outline and critical appreciation of her contribution to Sadir and Bharatnatyam, using original anecdotes and articles composed by critics who knew her and witnessed her work.

Albert Besnard and the Little Tanjore Devadasi: 1911

In 1911, the French artist Albert Besnard visited India. During his time there he attended a Sadi... more In 1911, the French artist Albert Besnard visited India. During his time there he attended a Sadir performance at the home of a teenage hereditary dancer. The performance was described at length in his narrative of his Indian Soujourn, 'L'Homme en rose: Inde couleur de sang'. He also painted several pictures of the Tanjore dancer and other dancers throughout India. This article examines these events, paintings and writings.

Pictorial Data for South Indian Dancers at Ethnic Shows in Europe, Part 2: 1908-1926

This article is a continuation of Part 1. It deals with the ordering and description of pictorial... more This article is a continuation of Part 1. It deals with the ordering and description of pictorial data for South Indian dancers who appeared at ethnic shows in Europe in the period indicated. It also provides social, political and cultural context, and examines public reactions to the dancers performing at these exhibitions.

Pictorial Data for South Indian Dancers at Ethnic Shows in Europe, Part 1: 1898-1907

The aim of the present article is in the first place to present, properly collated and in their c... more The aim of the present article is in the first place to present, properly collated and in their context, a series of photographs and advertising materials that serve to illustrate the part played by South Indian dancers in ethnic shows that were staged in Europe in the period indicated. Owing to the number of pictures representing dancers at these exhibitions, it has seemed a good idea to split the article into two parts, of which this is the first. The photographs that I have collected in the course of the last three years, and which relate only to the ethnic shows or 'Völkerschauen', run to some forty-five or fifty items, of which a number have already been presented in my previous article on human exhibitions at the Jardin d'Acclimatation. These articles also contextualize these dancers in the broader colonial cultural and pseudo-scientific environment. In addition, some attention is paid to public reactions as these were reflected in press reports from the period.

South Indian Dancers on Exhibition in Paris: 1902, 1906 and 1926

This article examines the pictorial data associated with exhibitions of Indian dance in the Jardi... more This article examines the pictorial data associated with exhibitions of Indian dance in the Jardin d'Acclimatation in Paris in the first decade of the 20th century. It also analyses some important aspects of the presentation of these dancers in the context of the 'human zoos' or ethnic exhibitions that became popular in Europe from the late 19th century to the 1920s.

The Persecution of Three Aspects of the Hereditary South Indian Dancer in the Late 19th Century

This talk lays out the three grounds on which the person and body of the South Indian hereditary ... more

5 views

The Kalavant-Bailadeiras of Goa from c. 1540 to c. 1880: Image and Text

Pictorial data for the history of dance in Goa are relatively sparse. They do not come close to t... more Pictorial data for the history of dance in Goa are relatively sparse. They do not come close to the amount of pictures, for example, that we have of dancers in Tamil Nadu. The reasons for this sparsity are not far to seek: dance in Goa, both religious and public, was restricted and persecuted from almost the beginning of Portuguese colonisation, and many dancers were forced by local circumstances to migrate elsewhere.

Some Thoughts on the 'Momentous Transition' of South Indian Dance from the Hands of the Hereditary Artists to Those of the 'Better People'

One of the pressing issues that arose in the immediate aftermath of Dr Muthulakshmi Reddi’s 1930 ... more One of the pressing issues that arose in the immediate aftermath of Dr Muthulakshmi Reddi’s 1930 anti-devadasi bill was the scramble by the so-called ‘Pro-Art’ lobby to save the art of dance from extinction in case the devadasi system should really be abolished, a final step that was in the early 1930s not yet a certainty, but was certainly looming large over the hereditary dance economy.

America and the Nautch Dancers 1: From Marmaduke Borrough to Augustin Daly; 1822-1881

My aim in this two-part article is to provide some insights into the pictorial and textual record... more My aim in this two-part article is to provide some insights into the pictorial and textual records concerning dancers from India who were seen by Americans in India or brought to the United States in the period under review. The pictorial data, scarce though they are, have been gathered over a period of some months, together with some primary source writings that help to elucidate them. I will be dealing with the five main and well-known occasions on which Indian ‘nautch dancers’ were brought out to perform in America by impresarios of the ‘showman’ kind. These occasions were: the production of ‘Zanina’ by Augustin Daly in 1880-1881, the P.T. Barnum ‘Greatest Show on Earth’ and its subsidiary ‘dime museum’ exhibitions which took place in 1884, the Chicago ‘World’s Columbian Exhibition’ of 1893, the 1904 ‘Delhi Durbar’ staged in Luna Park on Coney Island, and the 1906 ‘East India Exposition’, which was part of Carl and Heinrich Hagenbeck’s ‘Greater Shows’ tour of the United States. This first part of the article deals only with the period preceding the P.T. Barnum shows.

Notes on the Photograph of Rajalakshmi and Jeevaratnam, c. 1933

The photograph of the Kalyani daughters, Rajalakshmi and Jeevaratnam, which was produced sometime... more The photograph of the Kalyani daughters, Rajalakshmi and Jeevaratnam, which was produced sometime between 1931 and 1933, is as well known as it is usually unaccompanied by any documented insights into the lives and art of these sisters. The present brief article is an attempt to present some items of information that may help to bring into sharper focus their place as artists and individual personalities in the forced evolution of Bharata Natyam from the 1930s onwards.

Some Very Early Depictions of South Indian Dancers, Part 1: ca. 1540-1600

In this two-part article I will take a cursory look at a set of depictions of South Indian dancer... more In this two-part article I will take a cursory look at a set of depictions of South Indian dancers that were all produced in India across a period of some two centuries, beginning round the middle of the sixteenth. My first intention is to make these pictures known and available to dancers, students and researchers who may not yet have come across them, and to share the relevant sources for those who might want to discuss them in their own work.
The pictures with which I will deal in part 1 are:
1. Dancers represented in the Portuguese Codex 1889 or Códice Casanatense, whose depictions date from circa 1540.
2. South Indian dance postures illustratively represented in the Jawahir al-Musiqat-i Muhammadi, which was originally an illustrated Dakhni rendition of Sarangadeva’s Sangitaratnakara produced by an anonymous writer and artist round the year 1570.
3. The single ‘Balhadeira’ who appears in the depiction of ‘types’ found in Jan Huygen van Linschoten’s Itinerario of 1596, and the reverse prints of the same picture in copies of the work made by the brothers de Bry in 1598.

The 'Nautch Girls' of Edwin Lord Weeks: 1882-1900

Edwin Lord Weeks was the son of a Boston grocer who had made good. His father's prosperity enable... more Edwin Lord Weeks was the son of a Boston grocer who had made good. His father's prosperity enabled the son to finance his period of development as an artist, and to move to Paris, where he studied under Léon Bonnat and Jean-Léon Gérôme, creating a lifelong bond with the École des Beaux-arts. Many of his best paintings of Indian life, landscape and architecture were exhibited at the Paris Salon, and were highly regarded, both by his fellow artists and by art critics in France, Britain and the United States. This article considers his experience with and paintings of the 'nautch girls' or dancers of India.

Salman Rushdie and 'The Satanic Verses' in India: A Brief Critique of Freedom of Speech

This short article considers the reaction of the Government of India to Salman Rushdie's presence... more

The Meagre Pictorial Record of Andhra Devadasis

This article examines a number of pictures that are thought to represent practitioners of the kal... more This article examines a number of pictures that are thought to represent practitioners of the kalavantulu ritual and dance tradition of Andhra Pradesh in the 19th century. It also discusses the dearth of such pictorial representations, and the reasons for confusion of location in archives where these pictures are found.

'Dancing Girls' from the Bombay Presidency: c. 1880-1905

This article discusses pictorial data for dancers depicted in the Bombay Presidency in the period... more

Egron Lundgren's Lucknow Dancers: 1859

This paper examines the paintings of proto-Kathak dancers produced by the artist Egron Lundgren i... more This paper examines the paintings of proto-Kathak dancers produced by the artist Egron Lundgren in Lucknow in the wake of the Indian Rebellion of 1857-1858. Lundgren provides Indian dance historians with an interesting set of watercolours depicting dancers whose choreographies would have been derived from the court dances designed and encourage by Wajid Ali Shah, the erstwhile Nawab of Oudh or Awadh (now Uttar Pradesh)..

More Pictorial Portrayals of Dancers in the Bengal Presidency, c. 1770-1840

In this article, an additional number of pictorial data for dancers in the Bengal Presidency are ... more

Depictions of Dancers in the Bengal Presidency by Three Artists: c.1820-1840

The article examines the pictorial depicitions of proto-kathak and other dancers in the Bengal Pr... more The article examines the pictorial depicitions of proto-kathak and other dancers in the Bengal Presidency under East India Company rule between 1820 and 1840. The artists discussed are Sophie Charlotte Belnos, Capt. Robert Smith, and Sir Charles D'Oyly. This writing also considers the social and cultural context in which these dancers were described in pictures and words.

East India Company Officials and the 'Nautch Girls' of Lucknow and Delhi: 1780-1846: A Pictorial Survey

The thrust of this essay is to deal with the pictorial record showing the association of proto-Ka... more The thrust of this essay is to deal with the pictorial record showing the association of proto-Kathak dancers with East India Company officials who resided and worked in Lucknow and Delhi in the period under review. Much has been written in recent decades about this period in which officials and soldiers of the Company took Indian wives, adopted local dress and manners, and patronized the arts in their places of residence, including the dance. This essay will confine itself to a number of well-known paintings which depict these officials in the enjoyment of dance entertainments, as well as providing some pictures of the dancers themselves. In the main, I will be dealing here with such public figures of the time as Colonel Antoine-Louis-Henri Polier in Lucknow, and Sir David Ochterlony, Raja Hindu Rao, Colonel James Skinner, William Fraser, and Sir Thomas Metcalfe in Delhi, all of whom are pictorially shown to have had dealings with 'nautch troupes'.

The Girl who Became Rukmini Devi: Photographs, c. 1910-1936

The intention of this article is to make available in a single document a number of photographs t... more The intention of this article is to make available in a single document a number of photographs taken in Rukmini Devi Arundale's early years, from her childhood to her first performance of Bharata Natyam in the grounds of the Theosophical Society in Adyar at the end of December 1935. These photographs are accompanied by a brief biographical outline.

Twelve Photographs of Mylapore Gauri Ammal: c. 1945-1970

This article presents and identifies twelve photographs of the hereditary dancer and renowned tea... more This article presents and identifies twelve photographs of the hereditary dancer and renowned teacher of abhinaya, Mylapore Gauri Ammal. It also presents a biographical outline and critical appreciation of her contribution to Sadir and Bharatnatyam, using original anecdotes and articles composed by critics who knew her and witnessed her work.

Albert Besnard and the Little Tanjore Devadasi: 1911

In 1911, the French artist Albert Besnard visited India. During his time there he attended a Sadi... more In 1911, the French artist Albert Besnard visited India. During his time there he attended a Sadir performance at the home of a teenage hereditary dancer. The performance was described at length in his narrative of his Indian Soujourn, 'L'Homme en rose: Inde couleur de sang'. He also painted several pictures of the Tanjore dancer and other dancers throughout India. This article examines these events, paintings and writings.

Pictorial Data for South Indian Dancers at Ethnic Shows in Europe, Part 2: 1908-1926

This article is a continuation of Part 1. It deals with the ordering and description of pictorial... more This article is a continuation of Part 1. It deals with the ordering and description of pictorial data for South Indian dancers who appeared at ethnic shows in Europe in the period indicated. It also provides social, political and cultural context, and examines public reactions to the dancers performing at these exhibitions.

Pictorial Data for South Indian Dancers at Ethnic Shows in Europe, Part 1: 1898-1907

The aim of the present article is in the first place to present, properly collated and in their c... more The aim of the present article is in the first place to present, properly collated and in their context, a series of photographs and advertising materials that serve to illustrate the part played by South Indian dancers in ethnic shows that were staged in Europe in the period indicated. Owing to the number of pictures representing dancers at these exhibitions, it has seemed a good idea to split the article into two parts, of which this is the first. The photographs that I have collected in the course of the last three years, and which relate only to the ethnic shows or 'Völkerschauen', run to some forty-five or fifty items, of which a number have already been presented in my previous article on human exhibitions at the Jardin d'Acclimatation. These articles also contextualize these dancers in the broader colonial cultural and pseudo-scientific environment. In addition, some attention is paid to public reactions as these were reflected in press reports from the period.

South Indian Dancers on Exhibition in Paris: 1902, 1906 and 1926

This article examines the pictorial data associated with exhibitions of Indian dance in the Jardi... more This article examines the pictorial data associated with exhibitions of Indian dance in the Jardin d'Acclimatation in Paris in the first decade of the 20th century. It also analyses some important aspects of the presentation of these dancers in the context of the 'human zoos' or ethnic exhibitions that became popular in Europe from the late 19th century to the 1920s.

19th-Century Painted Wooden Models of Devadasis

At some museums, and at several antique and fine arts vendor sites, one comes across wooden figur... more At some museums, and at several antique and fine arts vendor sites, one comes across wooden figures of South Indian devadasis. These are usually polychrome statues, having their centres of production in various areas of Tamil Nadu. This article examines some examples of these representations and the settings in which they were made.