Transcending Gender and Self in Odissi Dance

MARCH 25, 2024; MON AT 6 PM
16 Cooper Square
More info here

The Indian Classical Dance Odissi strives to transcend gender norms and embrace an egoless state of mind. Inspired by iconography, sculptures, mythology, and introspective emotion, the dancer becomes a canvas for countless characters. Seamless transformations between gods, mortals, and demons, often ranging across genders, test physical and emotional limits, culminating in a raw, soul-baring expression in the present moment.

In this rare event, the dancer Bijayini Satpathy, a 2023-24 CBA fellow, will take us on a journey of transformations through performed excerpts from Odissi dance. She will reflect on gender conventions in Odissi, and on the freedoms, limits, and paradoxes they pose in her own work in conversation with Jennifer Homans, Founder & Director CBA, and Anurima Banerji, Associate Professor of World Arts and Cultures/Dance at UCLA.