Steps to Follow

The following chapter paints the multi-sited field of British Bangladeshi dance forms and dancers in London. Performers will be introduced, as will the organisations and spaces that are important to them. There will be a focus on Muslim and Hindu British Bangladeshi professional and social dancers in Tower Hamlets, under recognition of their positioning in London’s creative industries and socio-economic structures. Not only the research participants, but also the research methods will be introduced in this chapter. Dance will be applied as part of ethnographic and participatory research methodologies, and a particular focus will be put on conceptualising dance as a guided research method, which describes a deliberate and interrogative application of dance to explore social meanings. To conclude, this chapter offers an in-depth discussion on positionality, reflexivity, and the role of care in research, which focuses on the body.