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Theater proposes an alternative reality and different possible identities offering a framework of how representation works in performances, and it further provides an understanding of the transformative potential of enactment. The attempt to retrieve and re-write women's histories through performances develops a culture of reconstructive capacities that resists absorption into the dominant culture. In theater, women have asserted their own vision and exercised their own viewpoints, expanding feminist space and communicating with spectators by employing publicly encoded signs. The folk theater of India, in particular, provides a public space to the (silenced) subaltern to assert agency and question the modalities of power, exclusion, images, and strategies that marginalize women. The paper examines Indian women's roles on stage and in the folk theater of Chhattisgarh from the 1980s onwards and shows how feminist performances redefine gender binaries and contest popular consciousness. By voicing women's perspectives, the women performers and women narrators of the epic Mahabharata in folk performances restructure and alter the stage. This paper explores themes of gender, power, construction of theatrical space, and the shifts in feminist positioning created by Teejan Bai and other women Pandwani performers and Kathagayakas.

Introduction: As people age, physical fitness and balance decline, which can be prevented by engaging in various forms of movement exercise. Objective: Investigated the efficacy of Thai Folk Performance Exercise Program on Health-Physical Fitness and Balance in Older Adults. Methodology: Thirty volunteers aged 60-75 years participated in an 8-week intervention (3 sessions/week). Each session included warm-up (10 minutes), main exercise incorporating Thai Folk Performance Exercise Program at 55-65% HRmax (30 minutes), and cool-down (10 minutes). Assessments measured body composition, flexibility (back scratch, sit-and-reach test), muscle strength and endurance (30-second chair stand, 30-second arm curl tests), cardiorespiratory endurance (6-minute walk test), and balance (agility course test) were tested both pretest and posttest. We analyzed the data using pair t-test. Results: The findings indicate that posttest, Significant improvements occurred in flexibility: right back scratch (p = .001), left back scratch (p = .008), and sit-and-reach (p = .047). Lower body strength increased significantly (30-second chair sit-to-stand, p = .004). Cardiorespiratory endurance improved (6-minute walk test, p = .022). Balance enhanced markedly (agility course test, p < .001). No significant changes occurred in body composition or upper body strength. Conclusions: The findings indicate that the Thai Folk performance exercise program effectively improved flexibility, lower body strength and endurance, cardiorespiratory endurance, and balance in older adults. Integrating cultural elements with evidence-based exercise provides a culturally appropriate, engaging approach to healthy aging, offering an innovative alternative to conventional exercise programs. Introducción: A medida que las personas envejecen, la aptitud física y el equilibrio disminuyen, lo cual se puede prevenir participando en varias formas de ejercicio de movimiento. Objetivo: investigó la eficacia del Programa de Ejercicios de Rendimiento Folclórico Tailandés en la Salud, la Aptitud Física y el Equilibrio en Adultos Mayores. Metodología: Treinta voluntarios de entre 60 y 75 años participaron en una intervención de 8 semanas (3 sesiones/semana). Cada sesión incluyó calentamiento (10 minutos), ejercicio principal que incorporaba el Programa de Ejercicios de Rendimiento Folclórico Tailandés al 55-65% de FCmáx (30 minutos) y enfriamiento (10 minutos). Las evaluaciones midieron la composición corporal, la flexibilidad (rascado de espalda, prueba de sentarse y alcanzar), la fuerza y resistencia muscular (pruebas de levantarse de una silla durante 30 segundos, pruebas de flexión de brazos durante 30 segundos), la resistencia cardiorrespiratoria (prueba de caminata de 6 minutos) y el equilibrio (prueba de recorrido de agilidad) se probaron tanto antes como después de la prueba. Analizamos los datos utilizando la prueba t de pares. Resultados: Los hallazgos indican que después de la prueba, se produjeron mejoras significativas en la flexibilidad: rascado en la espalda derecha (p = .001), rascado en la espalda izquierda (p = .008) y sentarse y alcanzar (p = .047). La fuerza de la parte inferior del cuerpo aumentó significativamente (30 segundos de sentarse y levantarse en una silla, p = .004). La resistencia cardiorrespiratoria mejoró (prueba de caminata de 6 minutos, p = .022). El equilibrio mejoró notablemente (prueba de recorrido de agilidad, p < .001). No se produjeron cambios significativos en la composición corporal ni en la fuerza de la parte superior del cuerpo. Conclusiones: los hallazgos indican que el programa de ejercicios de rendimiento Thai Folk mejoró eficazmente la flexibilidad, la fuerza y la resistencia de la parte inferior del cuerpo, la resistencia cardiorrespiratoria y el equilibrio en adultos mayores. La integración de elementos culturales con ejercicios basados en la evidencia proporciona un enfoque culturalmente apropiado y atractivo para el envejecimiento saludable, ofreciendo una alternativa innovadora a los programas de ejercicios convencionales. Introdução: À medida que as pessoas envelhecem, a aptidão física e o equilíbrio diminuem, o que pode ser prevenido com a participação em diversas formas de exercícios de movimento. Objectivo: Este estudo investigou a eficácia do Programa de Exercícios de Performance Folclórica Tailandesa na saúde, aptidão física e equilíbrio em idosos. Metodologia: Trinta voluntários com idades compreendidas entre os 60 e os 75 anos participaram numa intervenção de 8 semanas (3 sessões/semana). Cada sessão incluiu um aquecimento (10 minutos), um exercício principal incorporando o Programa de Exercícios de Performance Folclórica Tailandesa a 55-65% da FCmáx (30 minutos) e um relaxamento (10 minutos). As avaliações mediram a composição corporal, a flexibilidade (teste de coçar as costas, teste de sentar e alcançar), a força e a resistência muscular (teste de levantar da cadeira durante 30 segundos, teste de flexão de braços durante 30 segundos), a resistência cardiorrespiratória (teste de caminhada de 6 minutos) e o equilíbrio (teste de percurso de agilidade) antes e depois do teste. Analisámos os dados através do teste t pareado. Resultados: Os resultados indicam que, após o teste, houve melhorias significativas na flexibilidade: coçar as costas direitas (p = 0,001), coçar as costas esquerdas (p = 0,008) e sentar e alcançar (p = 0,047). A força da parte inferior do corpo aumentou significativamente (teste de sentar e alcançar na cadeira de 30 segundos, p = 0,004). A resistência cardiorrespiratória melhorou (teste de caminhada de 6 minutos, p = 0,022). O equilíbrio melhorou significativamente (teste de percurso de agilidade, p < 0,001). Não se verificaram alterações significativas na composição corporal ou na força da parte superior do corpo. Conclusões: Os resultados indicam que o programa de exercício de performance Thai Folk melhorou eficazmente a flexibilidade, a força e a resistência da parte inferior do corpo, a resistência cardiorrespiratória e o equilíbrio em idosos. A integração de elementos culturais com exercícios baseados em evidências proporciona uma abordagem culturalmente apropriada e envolvente para o envelhecimento saudável, oferecendo uma alternativa inovadora aos programas de exercício convencionais.

‘Archives in drag: Performing nachaniya towards a queer theory of indenture’ takes as its object the figure of the Indo-Jamaican nachaniya dancer as a paradigm for re-thinking queer theories of indenture. Nachaniya is a highly stylized Indo-Jamaican folk dance featuring a heterosexual male dancing in drag. The performance, which can be traced to the nineteenth century, is still common within present-day Indo-Jamaican communities and the diaspora. Nachaniya therefore presents both parts of a queer historical and living archive. By using an archival photograph from the 1960s of a nachaniya dancer as a point of entry, I consider the ways in which this genre of Indo-Jamaican folk performance demonstrates gender non-normativity as deeply embedded within the indentured archive. Since nachaniya is also read as not necessarily queer but ‘cultural’, I am interested in the tensions between a refusal to categorize the performance as a kind of drag while simultaneously elevating its ‘cultural’ status and the slippage between ‘queer’ and ‘culture’. I consider the figure of the nachaniya dancer as what Anjali Arondekar has termed a site of ‘ordinary surplus’ rather than a site of queer exception. Through a reading of this queer archival photograph, I consider destabilizing narratives of loss or absence that saturate approaches to the queer archive of indenture to suggest that nachaniya is a useful paradigm for theorizing the nexus at which Indo-Jamaican archives and queers of indenture have been theorized as ‘nothing to see’.

Nachania (नचंनिया), translated as ‘female dancer’, refers to both a traditional Indo-Jamaican folk dance that has local origins in indentureship, and to those who perform it. The dance is characterized by flamboyant flailing hands, counterbalanced by acrobatic feats and yogic moments synchronous with beat drops. Its unbound choreography salvages important religio-cultural and historical narratives through ecstatic paroxysmal dance often with sexual overtones. This performance is important in ritualized and celebratory spaces to entertain crowds. While performing, Nachanias would have money launched at them, and they would sometimes engage men in dance. The performers were, and still are, frequently men who assume a different gendered role garbed in conscious ‘feminizing’ technologies such as make-up, jewellery and a frock. Especially during indentureship and the period immediately after, it was ‘vulgar’ for women to dance publicly or perform at religious ceremonies. Early women Nachanias were read as tainted spectacles, some of whom the archives record as professional ‘entertainers’. Inspired by the author’s curiosity, Indo-Jamaican identity, observations of Nachania and discourses with Ghanesh Maragh (one of the few contemporary performers of this artform), this article casts Indo-Jamaicans into the unbound erotic gendered tradition of Jamaica and indentureship by (a) tracing the (inter)religious, gendered, and historical anatomy of the lauded folk performance from the period of indentureship to the present in Jamaica and the Indo-Jamaican diaspora; (b) exploring themes of bidesia; and (c) examining possible problems with situating Nachania within categories of queer.

For more than ten centuries, the culture of the Kyrgyz people has found chief expression through their oral traditions. The epic Manas, a prized form of Kyrgyz oral tradition, is still performed today in both Kyrgyzstan and the Xinjiang region of China. Research on the epic singers known as manaschys, or singers of Manas, is therefore of great significance. Manaschys are talented singers who can perform epic songs both artistically and creatively. Rather than memorizing a text, the manaschy (also spelled manaschï, manasqi, etc.) has the ability to produce new versions of epic songs through the art of composition in performance. This paper focuses on six representative manaschys of the twentieth century.

For generations, they have been used as bedcovers at home and in the lumber camp, placed in hope chests by prospective brides, given to neighbors in need, and sold to raise money for the local church. Located in Johnsburg, North Creek, North River, Wevertown, and Porter Corners, these groups help to support their churches while keeping alive the tradition of tied quilts.

After the cartoon series My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic began airing in 2010, a network of adult fans, predominantly young males, formed an Internet-based vernacular culture in homage. Calling themselves \"bronies,\" this virtual community circulated \"photoshops,\" computer-generated visual humor, and discussed them online using an emic folk speech called \"bronyspeak.\" This article examines several photoshops in the context of the discussions in which they emerged. Bronies, like earlier fan groups, poach elements from the original show, \"queer them\" in consciously transgressive ways, and use them to challenge prevailing attitudes toward gender and sexual orientation in graceful, yet disturbing ways.

The author discusses the multi-episodic epic songs that have been in circulation in Central Asia. A good number of these works of anonymous authorship are still sung today in a variety of languages. Most are sung in prosimetric fashion, alternating verse and prose.

In recent years, a growing group of scholars has begun to draw upon queer theory as they research aspects of LGBTQ folk performances and texts from around the globe. In the process, folklore scholars have become increasingly intrigued by bodies that appear to transgress dimorphism, and complicate binary oppositions like male/female. Performances of gender identity and sexuality by hijras in South Asia have awakened audiences’ imaginings since the Kama Sutra period (Gupta 2005:180). In folktale, dance, song, religious epic, and popular culture, the figure of the hijra often evokes a liminal play of \"otherness.\" Commonly known as the \"third gender\"--a conceptual space outside of typical Western constructs--hijra individuals engage with varied notions of transsexual, transgender, intersex, cross-dresser, eunuch, or sexual fluidity. This article focuses on a feminist appropriation of the hijra within Yoni Ki Baat, a South Asian American version of The Vagina Monologues. The authors explore how the figure of the hijra--drawn from South Asian folk narratives, religious discourse, and popular culture--might be used strategically by social activists in political performance narratives to (1) encourage a complicated sense of sexually ambiguous or queer practices and identities, and (2) acknowledge individuals facing social oppression due to their marginalized identities. As such, their approach conceptualizes performance as both a relational space and as a space in which to wonder about questions of relationality (Madison and Hamera 2006; Schechner 1990).

Out of that conversation, a \"manifesto\" was written collectively, and some of the following questions emerged: (1) How can we better foster peer-to-peer mentoring to sustain ourselves and our work? (2) What are the core qualities of leadership that suit the values, ethics, and methods of our field? (3) What are the internal mechanisms of healthy organizations, and do they reflect the values and ethics of our discipline? (4) In what ways can effective leaders impact or facilitate creative, healthy workplaces? Coop Academy helps applicant teams do market research to be sure their business ideas are viable, and links applicants with the \"Working World\" cooperative business loan program and free legal support through the Urban Justice Center.