De-centring the choreographer: Historically inspired interruptions/disruptions in an exploration between sculpture and movement1

2019 ◽  
Vol 10 (2) ◽  
pp. 269-291
Author(s):  
Kaustavi Sarkar
Keyword(s):  
Jacques Derrida ◽  
Historical Narratives ◽  
Eastern India ◽  
Creative Potential ◽  
Classical Dance ◽  
Choreographic Process ◽  
Indian Classical Dance ◽  
The Temple

Abstract This article reflects the process of choreographic making where the choreographer actively decentres her choreographic choices by collaborating with participating dancers and historical inspirations. It explores the creative potential of archives ‐ a set of temple-sculptures found in eastern India called the Alasa-Kanyas (meaning indolent maidens) ‐ as past evidence of historically marginalized bodies of the temple-dancers, also known as Maharis, in the field of the eastern Indian classical dance form called Odissi. Alasa-Kanya: Sculpture in Odissi (AK), a Practice as Research (PaR) experiment, imbricates the historical and the theoretical in choreographic practice, re-inscribing the archival traces of the Mahari as found in the sculptural traces of the Alasa-Kanyas by an inculcated deconstruction of Odissi dance vocabulary. According to philosopher Jacques Derrida, deconstruction destabilizes the hierarchy between the centres and margins of a given area of knowledge. This experiment questions the hierarchical construction of Odissi dance as technically elevated than Mahari performance. Theoretical deconstruction is complemented by an embodied investigation via structured studio improvisations using the Creative Articulations Process (CAP). Choreographic process and analysis of AK deconstructs the technicity in Odissi movement via engaging with the Alasa-Kanyas or the sculptural archives of the Maharis in Indian temples. In this way, the once marginalized interrupts the dominant historical narratives and disrupts the patriarchal construction of a male centre, in turn questioning the agency of the choreographer in the choreographic process.

scholarly journals BETWEEN ‘CELESTIAL MAIDEN’ AND ‘SACRED PROSTITUTE’: THE MYTH OF THE DEVAͲDS5 IN THE IMAGINARY OF THE CONTEMPORARY INDIAN CLASSICAL DANCE PRACTITIONERS

SYNERGY ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 17 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Marinescu Angelica ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Art History ◽  
Classical Dance ◽  
Post Colonial ◽  
The Past ◽  
Art Form ◽  
Literary Sources ◽  
Indian Classical Dance ◽  
Medieval India ◽  
The Temple ◽  
Indian Art

One of the most controversial discussions in the contemporary Indian arts environment remains the connection of the post-colonial classical dance practice with the DevadƗsƯ or the MaharƯ, the temple dancing girls. Born in the Early Medieval India, amidst and in close connection to the Bhakti and the Tantric movements, abiding in the temple institution, the so-called ‘DevadƗsƯ temple system’ remains a mystery, between awe and fascination to the nowadays practitioner and connaisseur of Indian arts. While tracing back the socio-religious contexts that brought the temple dancers on the foremost place of the stage of Indian art history, the author looks for the understanding of this myth in the imaginary and the reality of contemporary practitioners, from the perspective of a foreigner researcher-cum-practitioner of an Indian art form. The paper is based on consulting the existing literary sources concerning the DevadƗsƯ system, and the research is focusing on the nowadays classical dance practitioners’ imaginary (re)construction(s) of this system. Till today, here she stands, the woman-as-dance practitioner, either Indian or from any other part of the world, at the cross-road of all myths, imaginarily rooted in the past, but living all the aspirations of the nowadays social, cultural, religious, political dynamics, neither celestial maiden, nor sacred prostitute.

Louise Lightfoot and Ibetombi Devi: The Second Manipuri Dance Tour of Australia, 1957

2014 ◽  
Vol 32 (2) ◽  
pp. 208-232
Author(s):  
Amit Sarwal
Keyword(s):  
Cross Cultural ◽  
Eastern India ◽  
Small State ◽  
Classical Dance ◽  
Common Heritage ◽  
The North ◽  
North Eastern ◽  
North Eastern India ◽  
Indian Classical Dance

Manipur, a small state in the North-Eastern India, is traditionally regarded in the Indian classics and epics such as Ramayana and Mahabharata as the home of gandharvas (the celestial dancers). Manipuri is one of the eleven dance styles of India that have incorporated various techniques mentioned in such ancient treatises as the Natya Shastra and Bharatarnava and has been placed by Sangeet Natak Akademi within ‘a common heritage’ of Indian classical dance forms (shastriya nritya): Bharatanatyam, Kathak, Kathakali, Kuchipudi, Manipuri, Mohiniyattam, Odissi, Sattriya, Chhau, Gaudiya Nritya, and Thang Ta. In the late-1950s Louise Lightfoot, the ‘Australian mother of Kathakali,’ visited Manipur to study and research different styles of Manipuri dance. There she met Ibetombi Devi, the daughter of a Manipuri Princess; she had started dancing at the age of four and by the age of twelve, she had become the only female dancer to perform the Meitei Pung Cholom on stage––a form of dance traditionally performed by Manipuri men accompanied by the beating of the pung (drum). In 1957, at the age of 20, Ibetombi became the first Manipuri female dancer to travel to Australia. This paper addresses Ibetombi Devi's cross-cultural dance collaboration in Australia with her impresario, Louise Lightfoot, and the impression she and her co-dancer, Ananda Shivaram, made upon audiences.

Survey of Musculoskeletal Injuries among Female Bharatanatyam Dancers in the Udupi District of India

2021 ◽  
Vol 36 (3) ◽  
pp. 199-206
Author(s):  
Lavanya P Kumar ◽  
Shruti J Shenoy
Keyword(s):  
Medical Professional ◽  
Musculoskeletal Injuries ◽  
Limited Information ◽  
Classical Dance ◽  
Dance Training ◽  
Lower Back ◽  
Injury Occurrence ◽  
Indian Classical Dance ◽  
The Impact ◽  
And Training

BACKGROUND: Bharatanatyam is an Indian classical dance form that is practiced globally. There is limited information about the prevalence of injuries in Bharatanatyam dancers. OBJECTIVES: To investigate the prevalence of musculoskeletal injuries and specifics of dance training in female Bharatanatyam dancers in the Udupi district of India. METHODS: We developed and tested a survey for Bharatanatyam dancers regarding injury history in the prior year, including location, time loss, cause, and need for medical help. We also obtained demographic and training information. RESULTS: 101 dancers completed the survey. 10.8% of dancers reported musculoskeletal injuries because of participation in dance. They sustained 0.65 injuries/1,000 hours of dancing. The most frequently injured areas were ankle (27.2%) and knee (27.2%) followed by lower back (13.6%) and hip (9%). Despite being injured, 36.4% of the dancers continued to dance. 54.5% of the injured dancers sought the help of a medical professional for their dance-related injuries. The most common surface for dance was concrete followed by other hard surfaces such as marble and tile. CONCLUSION: Female Bharatanatyam dancers are prone to injuries of the lower extremity and back. Most dancers in our study practice the Pandanalluru style on hard surfaces. There is a need to investigate the impact of training factors on the injury occurrence.

scholarly journals Indian Classical Dance Classification with Adaboost Multiclass Classifier on Multifeature Fusion

2017 ◽  
Vol 2017 ◽  
pp. 1-18 ◽  
Author(s):  
K. V. V. Kumar ◽  
P. V. V. Kishore ◽  
D. Anil Kumar
Keyword(s):  
Feature Fusion ◽  
Discrete Wavelet ◽  
Classical Dance ◽  
Video Frames ◽  
Shape Signature ◽  
Human Movements ◽  
Hu Moments ◽  
Interesting Task ◽  
Indian Classical Dance ◽  
Multiclass Classifier

Extracting and recognizing complex human movements from unconstraint online video sequence is an interesting task. In this paper the complicated problem from the class is approached using unconstraint video sequences belonging to Indian classical dance forms. A new segmentation model is developed using discrete wavelet transform and local binary pattern (LBP) features for segmentation. A 2D point cloud is created from the local human shape changes in subsequent video frames. The classifier is fed with 5 types of features calculated from Zernike moments, Hu moments, shape signature, LBP features, and Haar features. We also explore multiple feature fusion models with early fusion during segmentation stage and late fusion after segmentation for improving the classification process. The extracted features input the Adaboost multiclass classifier with labels from the corresponding song (tala). We test the classifier on online dance videos and on an Indian classical dance dataset prepared in our lab. The algorithms were tested for accuracy and correctness in identifying the dance postures.

Technological Mediation in Odissi Dance

2015 ◽  
pp. 474-491
Author(s):  
Shreelina Ghosh
Keyword(s):  
Qualitative Research ◽  
Digital Technologies ◽  
Classroom Community ◽  
Traditional Values ◽  
Online Instructors ◽  
Classical Dance ◽  
Dance Teachers ◽  
Online Videos ◽  
Virtual Class ◽  
Indian Classical Dance

The practice of teaching in an online composition class might potentially eliminate interpersonal interactivity in a classroom community. Digital mediation can be problematic for functional collaboration in a virtual class. The problem that online instructors might face is one that some traditional Odissi dance teachers also experience. In order to explore the conflict between tradition and mediations with technology, this study focuses on Odissi, an Indian classical dance, and examines how digital technologies of teaching, like CDs, DVD, online videos, and synchronous videos, are transforming the practice and teaching of this traditional dance. A qualitative research of the field of Odissi dance revealed that technologizing the dance might be unavoidable, but to some practitioners it may be disrupting Odissi's traditional values. This chapter reasserts the position of the teacher in an online pedagogic space and argues that the presence or simulated presence of bodies might be vital in learning and composing collaboratively.

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