03/08/2013 Rhythm of life riddled by extrude[Back History of the Project Hiranya Garva–Part-VII ] That Dancer Lady learnt from Swami Bhumananda Saraswati that, "Odissi may well claim to be the earliest classical Indian dance style on the basis of archaeological evidence, . . ." (Vatsyayan 34) affirms an eminent dance scholar, Dr. Kapila Vatsyayan, in her book, Indian Classical Dance. Orissi shows traces of Buddhism, Tantrism (Buddhist and Brahmanical), Saivism, and Vaisnavism, not only in the figures depicted but also in the messages conveyed. From its earliest evidence, Odissi was a dance performed by women (Maharis), whether in court or in the temple. Around 1600 A.D., male dancers dressed as females, known as Gotipuas, gained prominence. The dance remained an oral tradition through the beginning of the twentieth century, in possession of semi-literates who were not aware of the existing Sanskrit texts on dance. Consequently, the movement patterns, body positions, and hand gestures existed in diluted, even debilitated, form without the technical terminology that structures a dance format. The dances were passed down, in the case of Maharis (female temple dancers), from mother to adopted daughter, and, in the case of Gotipuas, from teacher to the dedicated boys. Dance by Maharis was totally stopped in the temple of Lord Jagannatha after independence due to the opprobrium attached to the female dancers. Although devotional singing in the temple continues to this day. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Posted on: Sat, 03 Aug 2013 01:41:09 +0000
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