I find my reaction (and others) interesting

Last weekend, TYG and I went to Cary’s Diwali festival (Hindu celebration——the Research Triangle has a big Indian population drawn by the tech industry). The highlight of the event was a Russian dance troupe that specializes in traditional Indian dance.
Pretty much everyone I mention it to expresses bafflement at the idea of Russians taking up Hindu dancing; that was my initial reaction too. But when I think about it, it’s pretty silly: After all, I don’t find anything strange in several American friends taking up belly-dancing. Or salsa dancing. Or myself cooking everything from Italian to Thai to Moroccan cuisine.
Maybe it’s because in our minds (“our” in this case is a nebulous reference to mainstream Americans——anyone who doesn’t feel this way, my apologies if you think I’m implying otherwise) we’re the default cultural setting. Our stuff is normal; other people’s stuff (food, dance, colloquialisms) is exotic. Us reaching out to take up some exotic tradition——savate, Persian cooking, wearing kimonos——is bringing a little color into our lives. When other cultures do it——well, they’re already exotic and colorful, so it seems odd they’d need any more color.
In reality, I doubt anyone gets up feeling exotic or walks around with a sense of being colorful (and people who consciously try to be colorful characters are rather annoying). It’s not surprising that a Russian might find Indian culture and dance intriguing enough to want to take it up.
I think there’s more to this topic, but I’m pressed for time, so I’ll leave it at that.