Tradition and Transformation in Mohiniyattam Dance An Ethnographic History demonstrates how Mohiniyattam a form previously stigmatized was reinvented as a sign of traditional Keralite womanhood. The book traces how the emergence of Mohiniyattam as a traditional form of dance based on a feminine aesthetic was synchronistic with the outlawing of polyandrous marriage practices and devadasi practices as well as changes in matrilineal inheritance and the outlawing of and reforms in womenamprsquos dress customs in Kerala India. These layers of history and cultural meaning permitted Mohiniyattamamprsquos renaissance as a sign of female grace and tradition. Throughout Lemos argues that practicing and learning movement is a gateway to understanding a system of semiosis. Danced movement itself can be a locust a bellwether and even an agent of social change.