Odissi is a classical dance style from Orissa, eastern India. Contrary to popular belief, it is not an ancient, sacrosanct tradition handed down to this day but a reconstruction, in the early 1950s, of a daily ritual performed by female temple dancers called devadasis.

The devadasi ritual developed and matured as part of a flowering of Hindu Shaivism, and later Vaishnavism, between the 10th and 16th centuries. Eloquent images of this exist in the form of temple sculpture from the period. After the 16th century, up to India’s independence, the region went through a politically unsettled time. This was detrimental to all temple traditions, including that of the devadasis, and the ritual disintegrated. Elements survived however both through the gotipuas, young boys trained in acrobatic movement who were dressed up as devadasis and made to perform in temple courtyards on festive occasions, and descendants of the devadasis.

Odissi’s repertoire has two aspects, nritta or pure rhythmic movement celebrating joy, and nritya or dance that brings text to life by evoking bhava (emotion) and rasa (flavour). Movements of the torso, face and arms are fluid, while the lower body marks bound rhythms. Like other classical Indian dance forms, Odissi uses gesture symbols from the ancient text of the Natya Shastra.