Annual Odissi Conference Returns

Dr. Kaustavi Sarkar, associate professor of dance and director of the Arts + Architecture Honors Program, will again host an annual conference on Odissi, an eastern Indian traditional dance form. “Sadhana: Art and Philosophy of Curvilinearity,” which was organized by the UNC Charlotte Department of Dance and University of California Los Angeles (UCLA) World Arts and Cultures, with Atkins Library and Charlotte Cirque and Dance Center, will take place online and at the Charlotte Cirque and Dance Center in early August.

Sadhana, daily dance practice, is a sacred space for dancers engaged in Odissi dance. Every Odissi dancer claims her identity within the field of dance through daily practice of foundational steps as well as canonical repertoire. This space is also one of innovation and resistance, as noted by dance-scholar/ film-maker Nandini Sikand. While Odissi dancer Bijayini Satpathy finds this space for intentionality within corporeal exploration and expansion, educator-choreographer Rohini Dandavate finds it generative for socio-political relevance. Mangalacharan (invocation) to Moksha (transformative freedom) animates the life and being of every Odissi dancer. This conference engages with this traditional configuration and proposition while infusing it with social justice initiatives, such as anti-caste, anti-racist, anti-imperialist, anti-capitalist, and anti-classist resistance.

“Sadhana: Art and Philosophy of Curvilinearity” will begin with the online Odissi Research Seminars, August 1-4, and a corresponding choreographic residency, August 1-6, at the Charlotte Cirque and Dance Center. A public performance will take place on August 5. For complete information about schedules and presenters, please visit the Odissi Odyssey website.

Registration for all events is free. Please register here.