Conference

Canadian Organization for Gender and Sex Research (COGS)

The theme for the 2022 international conference organized by the Canadian Organization for Gender and Sex Research (COGS) was ‘Bringing Gender and Sex Together:Transdisciplinary Theories and Methodologies.’ It was as part of this conference that Shailee presented her poster, ‘Utopia, Euphoria, and Garba: Performing Dance and Owning Space.’

 This research examines garba—a traditional dance form performed during the Hindu festival of Navratri—as an emancipatory practice for Gujarati women. Garba, Shailee argues, allows women to cross spatial, temporal, and cultural boundaries. Its performance in the 21st century poses a challenge to patriarchal norms that govern South Asian societies through the creation of alternate communities in performance. The study investigates how garba’s improvisatory nature destabilizes dominant structures in society leading to female empowerment. Using auto-ethnographic methods, her research explores garba as a transformative performance that fosters inclusivity and offers euphoric, rather than merely utopic, potential.