Origin

Odissi sketches its fundamentals from the idols of Lord Jagannath with the arms and feet forming a half square (‘Chauka’). The second most important posture is called ‘Tribhangi’, denoting the three bends in the body- neck, waist, and knee. This dance is the epitome of grace with every step enhancing the skill and features of the dancer. It requires hours of sweat and years of practice to perfect the postures or the ‘bhavs and bhangimas’. There exist a variety of head, neck, eye, foot, and hand movements that pour together to form the grammar of Odissi, i.e., the walking style (chaali), the turns (bhramari), the expressions (bhav).

The sequence of presenting this art starts from the basic essential, Manglacharan- a hymn sung in reverence of a God or Goddess. It is followed by pushpanjali, bhumi pranam, and trikhandi pranam (an ode to God, the Guru, and the audience). Next comes Battu- a fast-paced pure dance (‘nritta’). It lacks the expressions as well as any song or recitation. This is followed by Pallavi, a combination of rhythmic music based on a raag involving the neck, head, eye, and torso movements. Pallavi is followed by ‘Nritya’ or Abhinaya, an interplay of footwork and expressions. It is based on Odiya songs and the story is communicated through appropriate hand gestures and facial movements. ‘Natya’ follows next, with the mesmerising narration of mythological stories called dance dramas. This leg of the recital is the most expressive as well as experimental. The recital ends with a fast-paced pure dance called Moksha.

Related posts:

Back in 2017 when I was completely unaware of Angular’s latest version called Angular 2, this channel helped me. From then onwards I keep going back to learn anything new to this channel. Channel has…

Faceless is a poem inspired by the topic of identity struggle.