A brief history of Odissi dance

Odissi originated in the eastern state of Odisha in India almost 3000 years ago.
A lyrical dance form Odissi involves a lot of conceptual dance - dramas and Abhinayas or emotive facial expressions.

These dance dramas are on various themes, with the most popular ones being the stories of Radha and Lord Krishna.
In ancient times dance was one of the very few forms of entertainment.
Odissi was performed in temples as a way of worship and a source of entertainment. There were strict rules that had to followed while performing Odissi which are still practiced to this day.

During the middle ages and throughout the Imperial rule in India the dance form was dormant and almost lost. It was only in the 60's that Gurus from Odissa started to revive this dance form , taking inspirations from the sculptures of the Sun temple, named Konark.

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I collaborated with a few dancers to photograph the ethereal beauty of Odissi
Here are a few photos from the shoot.
I lit their faces with florescent tube-lights and shot it in a make shift studio in my house. All photos are straight out of the camera without any retouching etc.

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