Odissi

Odissi, one of the oldest classical dance forms of india, is rooted in the eastern state of orissa. The time and manner of its origin shrouded with mystry. But this dance was being practiced since early times is evident from the majestic dance postures angraved in the temples of orissa, especially those of lord jagannath at puri, lord shiv at bhubaneswar,and the sun temple in konark. It is significant that odissi dancers present exact dancing poses in these temples.

For quite some time, this ancient dance form was dormant. It was revived after the country's independence,found its rightful place in dance map of inbdia and flourised as one of the most graceful styles of classical dancing. Gradually "odissi" dance has spread effectively beyond the boundaries of this region and received recognition world-wide.

"Odissi" as a dance from is characterised by elaborate charm and grace. It has two broad aspect-nrutta,the pure dance and natya-the dance of expression. Mostly,a solo dancer vividly depicting all the finer aspects to charm the audience performs. However,it is also performed in a group where the dancers combine in to breath-taking postures to overwhelm the audience into ecstasy. This performance would be a solo presentation.

Manglacharan
The odissi dance always begins with in invocatory itemscalled "manglacharan". In this item, the dancer pays "bhumi pranam"a salutation to mother earth,followed by obeisance to a deity. The item concludes with three salutations-one to GOD over the head, one to the Guru in the front of the head and the last to the Audience in the front of the chest.

Pallavi
The word pallavi is derived from "pallavi", meaning a tender leaf. "pallavi, therefore,begins with tender leaflet-like dqance postures and then develops slowly and steadily into a beautiful bunch. Like "styayee nrutya"it is also a pure dance form,"nrutta",which invariably follows "manglacharan" so as to gradually lure the audience deeper into the domain of the dance form. Here also no song is rendered but only the syllables in accordance with a "range"are provided to which the dancer performs intricately, yet lavishly with beautiful poses and postures as seen in the orissa temples such as lord jagannath at puri,lord siva at bhubaneswar and the sun temple at konark. The dance flourshies to justify its name through distinct and charming poses. It is an extraordinary feeling to watch a just born tender leaf developing into a bunch of such leaves all before our eyes and just in a few minutes. The item aims at arousing such feeling in the audience.

Gotipua
An event of immence significance for the evolution of odissi dance was the establishment of gotipua system in which boys of tender age were trained in the art of dancing and singing. The boys dressed as girls started performing for the general public. Apparently this system was established during the reign of prataparudra in early party of 16th century ad. The gotipua troupes trvelled all over orissa popularising the dance form. The gotipuas were trained to sing the songs written by poets like gopalakrishna, banamali andkavisurya baladev ratha. These lyrics dominate the present day odissi dance. Gotipuas were not only good singers but also skilled in abhinaya or interpretation of lyrics with appropriate genstures. In addition,they performed some skilled dances like the bandha(acrobatic)nritya and the thali(plate)nritya. All the leading Gurus of today were trained as gotipuas under legendary gotipua Gurus like late shri Mohan Mahapatra and late shri Chandrasekhar Patnaik. Interestingly enough gotipuas didnot perform in the Jagannath temple initially but were later absorbed into rituals like outside the temple premises. At present,gotipua dance exists in a highly degenerated form under heavy influence of film songs and dances. However, gotipua style has been absorbed into the modern day odissi dance in its pure form.

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