Border-Dancing Across Time

The inscription Nyota Inyoka Chorégraphe Hindoue 1896 1971 on a tombstone in the Père Lachaise Cemetery in the 20th arondissement in Paris opens up a myriad of questions about the (forgotten) Parisian choreographer Nyota Inyoka. Who was Nyota Inyoka? Her name does not reveal conclusively where she was from. Is this her stage name? What did her choreographic work look like? Was it Indian or more about performing an imagined/fictional Indianness? What does Indian or Hindoue mean in this context? Where was her work performed? How was it received and who were her audience(s)? Who presented her work apart from herself? What was her artistic and authorial position in Paris in the 20th century? Inyoka was a French-Indian dancer and choreographer who lived, created and appeared primarily in Paris from the 1920s until her death in 1971. Apparently her early culturally eclectic works performed the fiction of the Orient in dances ranging from Indian to Egyptian. Her identity (and authorial position) also remained mysterious as critics described her as Indian, Egyptian as well as Persian. In the 1920s she was compared to Loe Fuller and Isadora Duncan. In the 1930s she founded Frances (maybe Europes) first all female oriental ballet company [un ballet de jeunes filles orientales de diverses origins]1. From 1950s until her death she was almost obsessively self-archiving and notating dances. This project aims to recover Nyota Inyokas uvre. Our analysis is based on three interweaving strands: (1) dance modernity in the plural (2) pre- and post WWII transitions of dance practices in France (3) authorial voice of European of color choreographic articulations. The most important methodological approaches will be an inventarization of forgotten exoticized dancers, archival research, critical analyses, movement analysis and practice-based exploration using Inyokas extensive dance notations. We believe that Nyota Inyokas work brings a historical perspective to contemporary questions of choreographing cultural multiplicity. We investigate her work in its historical significance and also as an impulse for present-day choreography. 1 Fonds Nyota Inyoka, [N.N.] Review, Box 6, Folio 4, BNF

The research project "Border-Dancing Across Time", funded by the Austrian Science Fund (FWF), illuminates the rich yet overlooked contributions of artists of color in the performing arts through a meticulous study of the Parisian dancer and choreographer Nyota Inyoka (1896-1971). By foregrounding the stories of marginalized artists like Inyoka, this project not only enriches dance history but also promotes a broader understanding of cultural diversity and the enduring legacy of creolized artistic practices. Nyota Inyoka, a pioneer in her field, faced marginalization in the predominantly Eurocentric narrative of 20th-century dance. This project sought to recover and reassess her largely forgotten oeuvre, providing a critical lens on her artistic innovations and cultural impact. In so doing, it not only unearths Inyoka's work but also challenges traditional methodologies in dance historiography. A thourough exploration of Inyoka's archive at the Bibliothèque Nationale de France allowed for a fuller understanding of her life and work. The research team (Sandra Chatterjee, Franz Anton Cramer, Christina Gillinger-Correa Vivar and Nicole Haitzinger), collectively experts in historical research, performance analysis, and postcolonial theory, adopted a multifaceted approach. They explored Inyoka's artistic practices and their intersection with broader social and political contexts. The project emphasized the significance of creolization in European arts, arguing for a pluralistic understanding of modernity that includes diverse cultural influences. One of the project's key contributions is its unconventional methodological approach. Instead of merely compiling biographical facts, the researchers focused on Inyoka's artistic intentions and strategies. They respected her choice to maintain a fictitious artist persona, Nyota Inyoka, rather than using her birth name, but did reveal the fact that contrary to previous beliefs, Inyoka was not born in India but in Paris. This decision highlights the ethical responsibility of researchers towards their subjects, especially those marginalized by history. The project also incorporated contemporary theoretical frameworks, such as post- and decolonial, queer theories as well as Freudian approaches to dreams, thereby enriching the analysis of Inyoka's work. These interdisciplinary methodologies facilitated a nuanced understanding of her contributions to dance and cultural history. Despite the challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic, which necessitated a shift to virtual research and collaboration, the project achieved remarkable outcomes. It led to the organization of international symposia, artistic research formats, and the publication of several peer-reviewed articles. The findings of "Border-Dancing Across Time" extend beyond academia, engaging the wider public through lectures, workshops, a video channel and media coverage (television and newspaper). The inclusion of Inyoka's materials in the performance Extica by Amanda Piña and the upcoming exhibition Tanzwelten at the Bundeskunsthalle in Bonn (Germany) further amplify the project's impact.