Orissi

One of the classical dance forms of
India; some of the others are Kathak,
Bharatanatyam, Kuchipudi, Kathakali,
and Manipuri. Dance in Orissa dates to
the second century B.C.E.; the present
Orissi style has its roots in the dance
performed at the temple of the god
Jagannath in Puri. The temple itself was
built in the eleventh century; the subsidiary part, known as the natamandira
(“dance-hall”), was built about a century
later. The latter period was the era of the
poet Jayadeva, whose lyric poem, the
Gitagovinda, is the only non-scriptural
poem that can be recited in the temple.
According to tradition, Jayadeva’s wife,
Padmavati, was one of the dancers in
the temple, and it was she who first
danced parts of the Gitagovinda as an
offering to Jagannath. As dance at the
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Organs of Action
Temple to the sun at Konarak, in Orissa.
temple evolved, two categories of temple dancers emerged: those allowed to
dance in the inner sanctum, and those
allowed to dance in the natamandira.
In the seventeenth century, a third
type of dance emerged—boys dressed
as dancing girls performed for general
entertainment both outside and inside
the temple. The latter dance tended to
be more athletic and acrobatic, whereas the women’s dance was more gentle
and lyrical.
The modern Orissi style combines
both elements. The most characteristic
stance is the chauka (“square”), in which
the feet are spread wide and pointed in
opposite directions, with the knees
bent so that the upper leg is parallel to
the ground. The arms are held in a mirroring position, bent at the elbow with
the upper arms horizontal, and the
lower arms and hands pointing straight
down. The dance’s stylistic impression
is one of roundness and fluidity, created by rippling movements in the upper
body during the dance. As in all the
Indian dances, Orissi has a well-developed vocabulary of gesture and expression, making complex story-telling
possible. The modern Orissi dance form
has been shaped by the shift from temple to stage in the twentieth century;
this change of venue has been primarily
responsible for its “classical” form
becoming more rigidly defined than in
the past. For further information see
Mohan Khokar, Traditions of Indian
Classical Dance, 1984.