All forms of yoga, whether they be practiced as the martial arts, the performing arts, or through spontaneous, worshipful gestures by laymen, aimed at  discovering the inherent divinity of the human being. Their common denominator was the experience of the spinal cord as a hollow flute that connected sky with earth, and soul-awareness with the physical body. Dance sequences extend the central axis into space through symmetric movements of the limbs, and the gaze. Intricate footwork generates ‘acoustic space’ and power in the lower spine, which is then channeled through the torso as rhythmic patterns and expressive emotions. These devices serve to ‘magnetise’ the spinal cord and charge the kinesphere. Hand gestures become mudras to fine tune the flow of energy from the axis through the limbs. In classical odissi’s sequences, these devices draw clear, virtual yantras in space, collapsing the divide between internal and external space. 

‘Dance as Yoga - The Spirit and Technique of Odissi’

Dance as Yoga examines the background, technique and
embodiment of classical Indian odissi dance while mapping
a practice grounded in an understanding of yoga. It describes
odissi’s physicality using Choreological Studies, a discipline
founded by Rudolf Laban for the study of movement and dance.
The material provides useful information for practicing dancers,
scholars and general readers, desiring an in-depth view of how
Indian dance techniques function as sadhana. Read Preface

Publisher: Niyogi Books, New Delhi

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