Table Of ContentEssays on
Classical Indian Dance
Essays on
Classical Indian Dance
Donovan Roebert
Published by
Jenny Stanford Publishing Pte. Ltd.
Level 34, Centennial Tower
3 Temasek Avenue
Singapore 039190
Email: [email protected]
Web: www.jennystanford.com
British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
Essays on Classical Indian Dance
Text copyright © 2021 Donovan Roebert
Photographs copyright © 2021 Arun Kumar
Cover photograph: Krithika Vellapan, Kalasrishti School of Performing Arts,
Cary (front), Farah Yasmeen Shaik (back), Director of Noorani Dance, Menlo Park
All rights reserved. This book, or parts thereof, may not be reproduced in any form or by
any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording or any information
storage and retrieval system now known or to be invented, without written permission from
the publisher.
For photocopying of material in this volume, please pay a copying fee through the
Copyright Clearance Center, Inc., 222 Rosewood Drive, Danvers, MA 01923, USA.
In this case permission to photocopy is not required from the publisher.
ISBN 978-981-4877-47-3 (Hardcover)
ISBN 978-1-003-12113-8 (eBook)
Contents
Acknowledgements ix
1 On the Means and Ends of Rasa in Classical Indian Dance 1
2 Classical Indian Dance as Sadhana: Some Notes Inviting
Elaboration 9
3 The Classical Indian Dancer as Poet, Interpreter, and Poem
Itself: Some Simple Comments 15
4 Classical Indian Dance and the Western Rasika: A Storm
in a Teacup 19
5 On the Principle and Significance of Pratitya Samutpada
in Classical Indian Dance 23
6 On Nritta: The Suspended Consummation of the Tale 31
7 Classical Indian Dance as a Discipline of Thought 37
8 On the Ghungroos: Ankle-Bells of Servitude, and Mastery 43
9 The Space Between the Notes: Heather Lewis’s Remarkable
Shastric Tour de Force 47
10 When is the Rasika Really a Rasika? 55
11 On the Gramma of Classical Indian Dance:
A Grecian Perspective 61
12 Writing The Odissi Girl: A Literary Analogue for the Dance 67
13 The Presence of the Absent Dancer 77
14 The Triumph of Mylapore Gauri Ammal: A Short Incursion
into Dance Genetics 83
vi c o n t e n t s
15 The Language of the Dancing Body in Nritta: Part One 93
16 The Language of the Dancing Body in Nritta: Part Two 99
17 Eight Unities Re-enacted in Classical Indian Dance 103
18 Five Ways of Dancing That Get in the Way of Dance 111
19 The Preservation of Classical Indian Dance in
Postmodernity 115
20 The Tenacious Survival of Classicism in Indian Dance 121
21 The Humanization of Rhythm and Form in Classical
Indian Dance 127
22 The Problem of the Pushpanjali 133
23 Surprised by Dance: A Glimpse into my Personal Journey 139
24 Classical Indian Dance is a Humanism 145
25 Dance, Analysis, and the Willing Suspension of Disbelief 151
26 The Multilocality of Classical Indian Dance 157
27 On the Terrible Beauty of Moksha in Odissi 163
28 Jayantika: Archaeology and Imagination in the
Reincarnation of Odissi 169
29 Sanjukta Panigrahi’s Contribution to Odissi: 1944–1964 181
30 The Foundational Ambiguity in Classical Indian Dance 257
31 The Karma of Classicism in Indian Dance 261
32 A Note of Thanks 267
33 On the Dancing Feet 271
34 Rukmini Devi and the Devadasi Question: An Opinion 275
35 A Note on Sringara Rasa 289
36 Classical Indian Dance at the Crossroads 295
Contents vii
37 On Filming Classical Indian Dance 305
38 Rasa in Filmed Classical Indian Dance 311
39 The Ineffable in Classical Indian Dance 317
40 On the Movement from One Adavu to the Next 323
41 The Personal Approach to Dance Criticism 327
42 The Sanitizing and Cleansing of Bharata Natyam 333
43 On ‘Pseudo-Spirituality’ in Classical Indian Dance 339
44 On the Freedom of Odissi to be Itself 347
45 Why I Choose to Write about Classical Indian Dance 353
46 Classical Indian Dance and Social Justice Activism 359
47 In Search of the Basis of ‘Spirituality’ in Classical
Indian Dance 365
Index 371
Acknowledgements
It would be impossible to personally thank the many dancers and dance
scholars who encouraged, debated, criticized and sometimes heatedly
argued over these essays, now published, but then only available at
my blog. To all those who interacted with me during those months
I extend my grateful thanks, but especially to Heather Lewis, who
believed from the start that this work should end up between covers.
My thanks are due also to Madhumita Raut for some interesting
pointers in the development of Odissi and, indeed, to Guru Mayadhar
Raut himself, at whose home in Delhi I first became acquainted with
the dance at first hand in the company of the exquisite dancer Aadya
Kaktikar.
I must record my deep gratitude to Madhavi Puranam and the
trustees of the Nartanam Journal for the materials they put at my
disposal for my long essay on Sanjukta Panigrahi, and in particular
for sending to me the edition which deals with the Jayantika papers,
edited by Dr Ileana Citaristi. For other kind assistance in this regard I
am grateful also to Kedar Mishra and Sabyasachi Panigrahi, Sanjukta’s
son, who provided many anecdotes, facts and dates that otherwise
would not have been available to me. Other sources, too many to list
here, are acknowledged in the references attached to the essay.
To Dr Swarnamalya Ganesh, Dr Anita Ratnam and Aadya Kaktikar,
I am grateful for reading the essays and taking the time out of their
busy schedules to compose reviews of the finished work.
Finally, I must express my heartfelt thanks to Arun Kumar, who
generously provided the many beautiful photographs that illustrate
these pages, and to the dancers who so graciously agreed to have their
photographs appear in this book.
