Paper short abstract:

This paper proposes to examine the modalities of staging of Odissi performances in present day Odissa. What is at stake through a set of practices that are conventional, yet embedded in the present day, socio-economical dynamics of the particular locality of the performance and its uncertainties?

Paper long abstract:

This paper proposes to examine specific case examples of the modalities of staging of Odissi dance performances in the early 2020ies in the Indian State Odisha. This dance practice, officially viewed by the Indian government as constituting heritage, is evolving in a context marked by the economic growth of the past two decades, but also, most notably, the galloping urban expansion of the city of Bhubaneswar - the capital of the Indian State Odisha - and a variety of social as well as political characteristics associated with uncertainty, that mark lives of individuals in present day India.

When looking at dance, it is common to place the focus on the performer's body. However, Andrée Grau remarked that to make sense of dance practices, "one needs to look beyond the dancer's body, its immediate space, and its musical accompaniment" (2003 : 173). It is conventional in Odisha to associate certain practices - such as the holding of meetings before performances, the distribution of gifts or certificates - with dance performances. What are these practices? What is at stake through their enactment? What particularities do they present in the early 2020ies? Do the topics that come up through these actions which are publicly presented relate to the aesthetic aspects of performances, or to other aspects? What do they reveal on the place of dance practice in Odisha today? On the social networks Odissi dancers are evolving in? On the economic opportunities and constraints they are facing?