Adults

Odissi: Classic Dance of Eastern India

Date(s): Wednesday, March 31

Time: 7:00 p.m.

Who: No children under age 7 allowed.

Nilanjana Banerjee is an accomplished performer, teacher, and life-long devotee of Odissi. She will discuss as well as demonstrate this 2,000 year old dance form.

Odissi traces its origins to the ritual dances performed in the temples of ancient northern India. Today the name Odissi refers to the dance style of the state of Orissa in eastern India. Like other classical arts of India, this ancient dance style had suffered a decline as temples and artists lost the patronage of feudal rulers and princely states, and by the 1930s and 40s, there were very few surviving practitioners of the art.

The technique of Odissi includes repeated use of the tribhangi, or thrice deflected posture, in which the body is bent in three places, approximating the shape of a helix. This posture and the characteristic shifting of the torso from side to side, make Odissi a difficult style to execute. When mastered, it is the epitome of fluid grace and has a distinctively lyrical quality that is very appealing.

Registration Necessary: Yes    Registration Starts: January 31