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Book Review
Revival and evolution of Odissi
JAYA RAMANATHAN
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Documentation of the emergence of Odissi as a classical dance form
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ODISSI — An Indian Classical Dance Form: Priyambada Mohanty Hejmadi, Ahalya Hejmadi Patnaik; Aryan Books International, Pooja Apartments, 4B, Ansari Road, New Delhi-110002. Rs.1250.
The Oriya proverb “One with modesty plays instrumental music, one with no shame sings and the most shameless of all, dances,” just about sums up the attitude to dance up to the first four or five decades of the 20th century.
Like Bharatanatyam of the south, the classical dance form of Orissa, the Odissi, too had come to be associated with devadasis and women of easy virtue. Just as the Bharatanatyam required an intrepid Rukmini Devi to transform the “sadir” (as the dance was derogatorily known) into a respectable art form presentable on stage, the Odissi found its advocate in dance activists like Priyambada. The fact that both these women were from progressive, influential families undoubtedly helped them in their cause.
History
The coffee-table book, said to be the first of its kind on Odissi and amazingly filled with information considering the format, is almost a first person account of Priyambada’s involvement in the evolution and popularising of the Odissi. Her daughter Ahalya, also an Odissi dancer, collaborates in the narrative.
Temple sculpture in Orissa through the ages is ample evidence that dance documented the progress of Odissi dance in stone. Dating back to second century B.C. the dance finds its roots in the ritual temple dance of the Maharis (the present day devadasis of Puri are still referred to as Maharis) and of Gotipuas (originally young boys dressed up as girls for performance). Today the Gotipua dominates the Odissi system.
Tradition
Starting off with a historical perspective, the authors go on to the parampara, the revival of the form, the architects and gurus of the classical art, and finally a most edifying chapter on Odissi music and an exhaustive glossary and appendices. With copious photographs, scanned awards and other encomiums, what comes as an added sensual delight is the translation of Jayadeva’s Gita Govinda. Though the Ashtapdi, in Sanskrit, might have originated in eastern India, its appeal is pan Indian, and the Gita Govinda rendered in Odissi style gives the dance that much more universality.
More care should have been given to the binding of the volume, especially if it is to be seen as a reference book; on first browsing it is already coming apart, the same goes for consistency in the spelling of proper nouns.
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