"Garba With Attitude": Creative Nostalgia in Competitive Collegiate Gujarati American Folk Dancing

Garba-raas, a dance form popular in the Indian state of Gujarat, is now being rearticulated onstage as an Indian American intercollegiate competitive dance form. Since most dancers have never lived in the rural Gujarat that they often portray in their dances, the attempts to solidify the dance are a symptom of a “nostalgia without memory,” which is often placed in dynamic tension with the imperative to be “creative.” By placing Garba-raas in the larger context of the complex politics of authenticity in the Indian diaspora, this article explores the ongoing construction of tradition in American collegiate Garba-raas competition venues by choreographers, dancers, judges, and spectators alike.