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The Transient “Ideals” of the “Odissi Body” and the Changing Place and Role of Odissi Dancers in History

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Sweta S. S.

Świat i Słowo

2019

vol. 32(1)

133-158

This article revisits the history of the Odissi dance’s formation and development in order to explore the changing “ideals” of the “Odissi body” and the transformation of the Odissi dancer’s agency, and their place and role in history. I review the trajectory of the Odissi dance’s history originating from an ancient form carved in stone, through the regional traditions of Maharis and Gotipuas, its revival as a cultural, aesthetic, and classical entity under the direct influence of early 20th-century Indian nationalism, its further development into specific styles and schools, and to the more recent understanding of the Odissi dance as a sensory-somatic form. Throughout the work, I question the subject/object role of the dancers which shifts depending on who “makes” the “ideal body” and decides about the prerequisites of the dance form. I analyse how the changing “ideals” of the body transform the role and place of the dancer from being an object to becoming an agent (the shift form objectified to subjective). I discuss the lack or presence of the subjective and agentic (feeling-thinking-sensing) bodymind throughout three periods: revival, post-revival, and transition. In the analysis, I apply theories from chosen philosophers, sociologists, anthropologists, dance phenomenologists, and somatic practitioners. This interdisciplinary perspective enables a study of the history of a dance which has always been influenced by the socio-cultural circumstances, and has remained a highly malleable and transient form.

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1 Świat i Słowo

1 Sweta S. S.

1 2020

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The Transient “Ideals” of the “Odissi Body” and the Changing Place and Role of Odissi Dancers in History