2005 CUNY Asian American Dance Festival Odissi Dance: Classical Dance of East India

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Festival Schedule

Date: January 21 & 28, 2005
Time: Friday, 6:00PM to 8:00PM

Place: Martin Segal Theatre, CUNY Graduate Center
365 Fifth Avenue, Corner of 34th Street, Manhattan

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 current form of Odissi is the product of a 20th century revival. Dedicated scholars and dance enthusiasts carefully researched manuscripts and studied the sculpture, painting and poetry of the region. They also met and observed the performances of the few existing performers, in order torevive and restructure Odissi as a unique classical dance style adapted to the requirements of formal stage presentation. Over the years Odissi has become one of the most popular classical dance styles.

Like other Indian classical dance forms, Odissi has two major facets: Nritta or non-representational dance, in which ornamental patterns are created using body movements in space and time; and Nritya, or stylized mime in which symbolic hand gestures and facial expressions are used to interpret a story or theme.The technique of Odissi includes repeated use of the tribhangi, or thrice-deflected posture, in which the body is bent in three places, approximating an “s” shape. 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.

Author Bio

Sonali Mishra received her B.A. in English Literature at the University of Michigan, and M.S. in Public Policy and Management at Carnegie Mellon University.

Sonali’s studies in dance include both theoretical and practical aspects, and has traveled to India on many occasions for further training and refinement, including a 14-month stay during 1999-2000. She recently returned from India where she spent three months undergoing intensive dance training with Sri Ramesh C. Jena and Srimati Aruna Mohanty.

Sonali has performed in many festivals and programs in the US, Canada, India and the UK. She has presented and participated in a number of workshops and lecture-demonstrations on Odissi dance to both Indian and non-Indian audiences. As a second-generation Indian-American artist, dance has been an integral component in developing her cultural identity. Her dual-culture heritage has allowed her to communicate effectively with her audience.

Sonali’s goal as an artist is to demonstrate the timelessness of India's classical traditions. Classical Indian dance has been widely appreciated by audiences all over the world not only for its beauty in presentation and movement, but also for their deep rooted spirituality.