Dance troupe from Bengaluru will perform at ICCS January 25th

Members of the public will get the chance to enjoy some of the oldest forms of classical Indian dance this week.

Eight members of the Sanjali Centre for Odissi dance group from India will be performing at the International Conference Centre on Wednesday 25th January 2023, at 6.30pm.

This is a collaboration between the Indian Council for Cultural Relations, the High Commission of India and the Seychelles National Institute for Culture Heritage and the Arts.

The troupe from Bengaluru,India, is being led by group leader Sharmila Mukerjee. The other members are Anushree Padmanabha, Suranjana Endow,Ravi Shankar Bangalore Thammanna Gowda, Swetha Sridharan, Anuradha Ghosh, Preeti Banerjee and Surajit Som.

The Sanjali Centre for Odissi dance was set up in 2004 by the Sharmila Mukerjee. This dance institute provides a complete education in the Odissi dance form.

Odissi dance traces its origins to Natya Shastra- the sacred Sanskrit text in performing arts. It evolved further on receiving royal patronage. The carvings found at the Udayagiri Monastery denote that Odissi was patronised as early as 2nd century BC and the trend continued unabated until about 16th century AD.

After surviving the tumultuous years after until the country’s independence, Odissi underwent a renaissance of sorts which helped it to become the what it is today globally.

Odissi dance form can be broken down to the movement of the head, bust and torso, and the accompanying gestures and expressions.