Languid Bodies, Grounded Stances

Download or read book Languid Bodies, Grounded Stances written by Nandini Sikand and published by Berghahn Books. This book was released on 2016-12-01 with total page 248 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Widely believed to be the oldest Indian dance tradition, odissi has transformed over the centuries from a sacred temple ritual to a transnational genre performed—and consumed—throughout the world. Building on ethnographic research in multiple locations, this book charts the evolution of odissi dance and reveals the richness, rigor, and complexity of the form as it is practiced today. As author and dancer-choreographer Nandini Sikand shows, the story of odissi is ultimately a story of postcolonial India, one in which identity, nationalism, tradition, and neoliberal politics dramatically come together.