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Odissi dance has its roots in devotional ritual, originating from Orissa state in the northeast of India. It was founded by
the Mahari (devadasi) temple dancers, who worked in the service of religious centres such as Puri, Bhubaneshwar and Udayagiri
in the 2nd century AD. Odissi is a graceful and erotic style of dance, performed only by females, and is based on the history
of the Maharis. Being based on devotional ritual, Odissi performances consist of one continuous theme beginning with an invocation to Hindu deities, the earth and dance gurus and ending with a highly technical finale.
A flowing, lyrical dance style, Odissi emphasises use of the neck, waist and knee. A distinguishing
characteristic of Odissi is the deflection of the hips. Importance is given to rigid stances and
balance and the artform consists of stuctured footwork techniques, whirling movements and patterns
of choregraphy. Dancers wear a choli and a sari is worn with one end forming a fan-lile apron at the
waist. Silver jewellery and jasmine flowers in the hair are used as decoration and bells are tied
around the ankles and the palms and feet are red-hued.
The most popular work expressed through Odissi dance is the Geet-Govinda by the poet Jayadeva, a story
of the playful antics of the child Lord Krishna. A typical Odissi performance opens with a bhumi pranam
(obeisance to the earth) and is peformed to percussion only, usually the pakhawaj. This is followed by
abaatu, a pure dance piece, where whirling patterns are weaved according to certain rhythmic cycles,
accompanied by the cymbals and flute. The dancer then expresses her movments to a musical melody
(swarapalavi) and finally concludes the performance with an abhinaya-nritta, an expressional item
using verses of poetry.
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