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| April 3, 2000 | ||
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| DANCE Repackaging Odissi In a bid to retain its popularity, Odissi changes narrative to make it more appealing to the masses By Ruben Banerjee
But Odissi seems to be finally breaking away from the traditional mould. Although the form still remains rooted in tradition, a change in narrative content is aimed at making it more relevant to the masses. "It is as if a silent revolution is on," says Kumkum Mohanty, noted dancer and head of the state-run Odissi Research Centre in Bhubaneswar. As older gurus of the dance form age, making way for a younger breed of dancers, Odissi is awash with "new ideas". The contemporary twist, even at the cost of replacing the metaphoric with the mundane, is certainly clicking with the audiences. The applause that echoed in the auditorium after the presentation of Mother India recently is eloquent testimony to this. Although the dancers adhered to the customary attire and ornaments, the dance presented that day told a different story. Capsuling 500 years of Indian history, the dancers struck a nationalist chord. "Odissi is beginning to serve a social cause," says Gangadhar Pradhan, a well known Odissi guru. "There was a need for change, and the need justifies the effort," echoes Ileana Citaristi, the Italian-exponent of Odissi who has made Orissa her home. "We ran the risk of boring people. Odissi would have lost its appeal," explains Mohanty. Mohanty took the first step in this direction in 1992 with her ballet Debi which attempted to define a geographical space for Oriyas as a distinctive race. Through the '90s Ileana experimented with philosophical concepts. Her Maya Darpana told no stories, instead, she says, "it pieced together, through choreography, emotions that summarise the journey from being to becoming". There have been many such experiments
since then: Prakruti described nature, Aranya preached conservation and
now, Kargil showcases nationalism. In Kargil, while the dancers portrayed
Indian soldiers moving around with sinuous grace, the enemy stood more or
less still in samabhanga, a posture in which one stands straight with both
legs equally bearing the body weight. Mohanty says, more than the enemy's
heinous intentions, this hints at the social regimentation behind enemy
lines. |
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Every
now and then boring evenings in Bhubaneswar, get enlivened by cultural
shows. These tend to follow a set routine: lengthy speeches, bits of
songs, drama and dollops of dance. Of course, in Orissa, no event is
complete without Odissi dance. If dispelling boredom is the aim, the
predictable format of these Odissi recitals, notwithstanding the stunning
performances, are enough to put off even the most enthusiastic. Although
the dance world all around has been evolving to keep pace with changing
times, in its birth place Odissi had hit a plateau of sorts. Here, it
remained mired in the mythological tales of Radha-Krishna and Hara-Parvathi.