A timeless moment. (interview with dancer Devasmita Patnayik)(Interview)

Isabelle Leymarie talks to DEVASMITA PATNAYIK

Among India's countless forms of traditional dance, Bharata Natyam has experienced a remarkable revival and achieved international renown in the last fifty years. The same period has seen the steadily rising prestige of another very ancient sacred dance form, known as Odissi, whose home is the state of Orissa in southern Bengal, traditionally believed to be ksetra or sacred land.

The golden age of Odissi was in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries, when it was performed in the magnificent temples of Shiva at Bhubaneswar and of Jagannath at Purl and in the temple of the sun at Konarak. Today Odissi still draws inspiration from the sculptures and friezes that adorn these holy places, from sacred inscriptions and from classic treatises on abhinaya, the art of representation. Graceful, expressive and lyrical, its languid fluent gestures are imbued with nobility.

The origins of Odissi can be traced back to the second century B.C., the date of carvings in the grotto of Udayagiri, near Bhubaneswar, which show ritual dances with poses that are still used today. In the fourth century B.C. a remarkable theoretical treatise on dance known as the Natya Sastra mentions a choreographic style known as odhra magadhi, from which contemporary Odissi is derived. According to myth, Shiva and his son Ganesh, the elephant god and lord of the dance, taught certain poses to Manirambha, a celestial dancer who transmitted her knowledge to temple dancers (Devadasi). The development of Odissi was encouraged in the tenth century by King Chodagangadeva, the enlightened ruler who built the temple of Jagannath, and 300 years later a sacred dance festival was held at Konarak. During the Mughul invasions of India young women stayed in their homes to protect themselves against the invaders, and male dancers who dressed like women and were known as Gotipua kept the tradition of Odissi alive.

Influenced by Jainism, Tantrism, Buddhism and Vishnuism, Odissi was danced by temple dancing girls called Mahari, court dancers known as Nachuni, and the Gotipua, who performed in public. Some time around the seventeenth century the Mahari and Nachuni faded from the scene, and only the Gotipua were left.

During the period of British colonial rule Odissi gradually shed its sacred aspect and became a form of entertainment for the ruling class. As before the Gotipua carried on the tradition, introducing supple and complex movements that were in some ways similar to gymnastics. The great practitioners of our times, Kelu Charan Mahapatra, Deva and Pankaj Charan Das were once Gotipua. Since independence in 1946, Odissi has recovered its former glory thanks to scholarly research and the interest of choreographers.

One of Odissi's most accomplished exponents, Devasmita Patnayik, gave a performance in Paris in 1991 during a series of cultural events organized as part of UNESCO's Silk Route Programme. On that occasion we asked her some questions about her art.