DSN UK Congratulates Critical Dance Studies Scholar Professor Royona Mitra!

7th May 2025

The new monograph Unmaking Contact: Choreographing South Asian Touch was published last month by Oxford University Press. The cover design is by “Rukminee Guha Thakurta, Letterpress Studio. Critical dance studies scholar Royona Mitra (Brunel University of London) says that it has taken ten years to birth this project and its publication coincided with the unexpected departure of her beloved mother who has played an integral role in many ways to this work, as Royona says, ‘in ways she will now never know’. Royona also notes that this publication aligns with “a devastating time in UK universities as we contend with precarities, redundancies, and become the fulcrum of political culture wars…” we wish that the joy of this publication brings abundant blessings to her, the student communities who will interact with her work and engage with the concerns that are close to her heart, especially in relation to “Cast out Caste” efforts  from universities. . 

We congratulate the dance artists – Akila, Diya Naidu, Nahid Siddiqui, and LaWhore Vagistan – whose words and works are integral to this project. We look forward to an online book launch in early autumn in the new academic year.