Three Days with Ileana and Saswat: Odissi in Rome (Part Two)

The Dance. National Prehistoric Ethnographic Museum “Luigi Pigorini”. Rome, 29 July 2017

Performance at National Prehistoric Ethnographic Museum “Luigi Pigorini”: Odissi in Rome with Ileana Citaristi, Saswat Joshi and their young Indian dancers, on 29 July 2017.

Let's travel into the beauty and culture of India!

Art Vision

The Back-Stage

From Wikipedia:

Odissi (Odia: ଓଡିଶୀ Oḍiśī), also referred to as Orissi in older literature, is a major ancient Indian classical dance that originated in the Hindu temples of Odisha – an eastern coastal state of India. Odissi, in its history, was performed predominantly by women, and expressed religious stories and spiritual ideas, particularly of Vaishnavism (Vishnu as Jagannath). Odissi performances have also expressed ideas of other traditions such as those related to Hindu gods Shiva and Surya, as well as Hindu goddesses (Shaktism).
The theoretical foundations of Odissi trace to the ancient Sanskrit text Natya Shastra, its existence in antiquity evidenced by the dance poses in the sculptures of Odissi Hindu temples, and archaeological sites related to Hinduism, Buddhism and Jainism.The Odissi dance tradition declined during the Islamic rule era, and was suppressed under the British Rule.The suppression was protested by the Indians, followed by its revival, reconstruction and expansion since India gained independence from the colonial rule.
Odissi is traditionally a dance-drama genre of performance art, where the artists and musicians play out a mythical story, a spiritual message or devotional poem from the Hindu texts, using symbolic costumes, body movement, abhinaya (expressions) and mudras (gestures and sign language) set out in ancient Sanskrit literature. Odissi is learnt and performed as a composite of basic dance motif called the Bhangas (symmetric body bends, stance). It involves lower (footwork), mid (torso) and upper (hand and head) as three sources of perfecting expression and audience engagement with geometric symmetry and rhythmic musical resonance. An Odissi performance repertoire includes invocation, nritta (pure dance), nritya (expressive dance), natya (dance drama) and moksha (dance climax connoting freedom of the soul and spiritual release).
Traditional Odissi exists in two major styles, the first perfected by women and focused on solemn, spiritual temple dance (maharis); the second perfected by boys dressed as girls (gotipuas which diversified to include athletic and acrobatic moves, and were performed from festive occasions in temples to general folksy entertainment. Modern Odissi productions by Indian artists have presented a diverse range of experimental ideas, culture fusion, themes and plays.
The Odissi tradition existed in three schools: Mahari, Nartaki, and Gotipua:
Maharis were Oriya devadasis or temple girls, their name deriving from Maha (great) and Nari (girl), or Mahri (chosen) particularly those at the temple of Jagganath at Puri. Early Maharis performed Nritta (pure dance) and Abhinaya (interpretation of poetry) dedicated to various Hindu gods and goddesses, as well as Puranic mythologies and Vedic legends. Later, Maharis especially performed dance sequences based on the lyrics of Jayadev's Gita Govinda. This style is more sensuous and closer to the classical Sanskrit texts on dance, music and performance arts.
Gotipuas were boys dressed up as girls and taught the dance by the Maharis. This style included martial arts, athletics and acrobatics. Gotipuas danced to these compositions outside the temples and fairgrounds as folksy entertainment.
Nartaki dance took place in the royal courts, where it was prevalent before the British period.

Saswat Joshi & Prakruti Mishra Live Odissi Dance Performance | Ekalavya Samman

Click here to see Part One