Chapter 1 theorizes flexibility in relation to neoliberal demands for innovation. In the late 1990s, during an era of expanding economic globalization and increasing European integration, Britain capitalized on the diverse cultural practices of its postcolonial communities to showcase the country’s “cool” cosmopolitanism and global investment appeal. However, the state was keen to promote a certain kind of diversity, one that was legible and assimilable. In order to be considered for funding, South Asian dance had to be both diverse (i.e., ethnically marked) and innovative (i.e., ethnically unmarked)—different but not too different. After decades of racial division and growing fears that British Asians were a threat to social cohesion, innovation was key to cultural integration. Balancing the dual demands for innovation and diversity required great flexibility on the part of British South Asian dancers, including the ability to stretch the boundaries of the form through experimentation; to be fluent and versatile in multiple techniques; and to adhere to competing demands to make work that was both culturally distinct and legible to a wider (and whiter) public. This chapter shows how one particular British South Asian dance company, Angika, struck a balance between ethnic particularity and mainstream appeal through an array of flexible choreographic and artistic choices. In doing so, Angika’s performances not only helped audiences reimagine Britain as inclusive, cosmopolitan, modern, and “cool,” but also allayed public fears about South Asians in the UK as unassimilable outsiders.
Relationships between young adults’ housing tenure, elements of perceived job security and social capital in Britain