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Elora Dash

1/27/15
UWRT 1103
The Art of Expression
Dance is a skill that takes many years of intense dedication to master. That statement can
be applied to any style, but for me, it is most applicable with Indian classical dance. I may be
biased since I have learned this dance style, but Odissi is the most beautiful dance style there is
but its also one of the most difficult dance styles to learn.
Abhinaya is the expressional piece in the Odissi dance repertoire. Abhinaya uses facial
and body expressions to tell a story. The first time I ever really started learning abhinaya was
when I was 14 and I was visiting India. We went to New Delhi to visit my family there the
summer after my 9th grade year. My dance teacher happened to be in Delhi for a few days while I
was there so of course, my mom forced me to take advantage of her being there. I agreed to go
because I dont get to see her that often since she lives in India and she travels all the time. We
met her at a dance studio and she told me that I would be learning To Laagi Gopa Dando.
I knew it was an Oriya abhinaya because of the name. I was hoping I would be learning
something simpler. There was another class learning a pallavi, which is just a technical piece
and I wished I was doing that instead. The dance was about the reincarnation of Lord Vishnu,
Krishna, and his mischievous ways. He would go into the village of Gopa Pura and flirt with the
married women there, and they would pretend to scold him when really, they enjoyed his
attention. Let me remind you, I was 14. I had no idea how to portray something like that and I
felt so embarrassed trying.

I remember being in the hot, not-air-conditioned room, tied up in a cotton practice sari. I
started as the female character and she has to be acting coy with Krishna from the start. My
teacher was yelling at me because I was barely showing any expressions. She mumbled
something in Oriya and Im glad that I dont know what she was saying because it was probably
not anything nice. But either way, I know she said it with good intentions. She taught me the
whole dance but I could tell she was disappointed with my abhinaya because she has very high
standards for me. When I look back on it now, I know its because she knew I had potential.
Fast forward four months to December and me and my mom are back in India. This time
we went specifically for my dance training and this time we went to Bhubaneswar, Odisha
instead of New Delhi. I had never been to my teachers dance school until then. Her dance school
was just her house but it had two rooms just for dance. The downstairs room was open with
black concrete floors, black painted walls, and a couple of ceiling fans overhead. The upstairs
room had wood flooring and concrete walls covered in picture of our late Guru Ji, my gurus
guru and father-in-law. During the time I went, the Odissi International Festival was happening
and many of my teachers students, including me, were performing. There were a lot of people in
class which made it pretty fun. We were learning a Sanskrit abhinaya, or ashtapadi, about
Krishna called Hari Riya Mugdha. My friend and I were the youngest ones and the only ones
coming from America. Everyone else was from India, Mexico, Russia, Japan, France, and Brazil.
In fact, there were so many students there at the time, we had to practice on the roof of her house
because that was the only space available. Four months hadnt been a lot of time for me to
improve my abhinaya and I didnt really remember the first dance at all anymore. Lucky for me,
my teacher didnt ask me to show her that one because we were learning this new piece and
practicing for the festival. This dance was easier than the other one to remember, but it was still

hard to get the expressions needed for the dance, especially since there were so many people in
the class. I still wasnt quite getting the concept of abhinaya even though I had been learning
dance for 5 years already.
A few years from my visit to India, the biggest performance of my life was about to
happen and it wasnt too long ago. Over the summer, I had my Manch Pravesh, which is a
dancers introduction to the stage, which basically establishes the dancer as a professional. All of
my training had led up to that moment. My teacher came and stayed at my house for six days to
prepare me for the day. I had to perform seven dances by myself all in a row. We started by
working on my stamina and getting me prepared for such a long performance. She polished each
one of the dances I had to perform and did her best to make them perfect. My performance
involved two abhinaya pieces. I knew Hari Riya Mugdha pretty well, but To Laagi Gopa Dando
wasnt in good condition. I didnt even remember the whole dance completely. It was six days
before that huge performance and I couldnt get through all seven items without forgetting
something. Those six days were stressful and painful. I had to dance six hours a day at least in
order to be ready. When we got to polishing To Laagi, I was still trying to remember the dance so
doing the expressions was extra difficult. My teacher had even higher standards for me now
because I had to dance my absolute best in this performance. She made me do it over and over
again until I could never forget the order of the steps.
The day of the performance rolled around and we woke up early to start hair and makeup. The nerves hadnt set in at that point but they would soon. In the back of my mind, I wasnt
sure if I would remember all the steps and do my guru proud. I was the most nervous for the first
dance because it was hard and it was the first time the audience would be seeing me. I made it
through the first five dances pretty well and I got a break before I would start To Laagi. I waited

on the edge of the stage for the slideshow my mom put together to finish, sipping Gatorade and
eating pieces of fruit set out for me. My throat was so dry and I was breathing hard which only
made it worse. No matter how much water I gulped down, my thirst couldnt be quenched. The
slideshow ended and my heartbeat sped up. I focused on my breathing and tried not to think of
the things that could go wrong. I suddenly felt like I wasnt ready to perform this piece, but it
was too late to back out now; the piece was already being announced. It was time to take my
position behind the side curtains. I closed my eyes as the music started. I let myself go in the
prologue of introductory music that always plays in Odissi music and cleared my thoughts.
Nothing was on my mind except for the music and the feeling of the dance. I entered the stage
and pushed the expressions out as much as I could. I knew I needed to do extra for it to truly
show on stage. I let myself become the woman flirting with Krishna and when I was playing
Krishna, I let myself become the naughty teenager who flirted with the Gopi women even though
he knew not to. When I shied away from Krishna, I pretended I really was a girl with a huge
crush on some handsome guy who was giving me attention. Although this story seems simple
and flirtatious, it really represents a divine connection between God and humans. While I
performed, I felt one with God. In fact, throughout my entire performance, my connection with
God increased. By the time I was performing the last few pieces, I was completely absorbed in
the dance. I didnt have to think about the order of the steps anymore; all I had to do was feel. It
was exhilarating to be so lost in the dance. Even when I messed up a step and my heart skipped a
beat, I got right back into it on the next part.
After my performance was over, I received many compliments from family and friends.
My mom told me that my uncle, who was visiting from India for my performance, cried during
To Laagi. However, my biggest achievement that day was making my guru proud. The only thing

she told me after my performance was that you did well in To Laagi. Your expressions were
good and thats all she needed to say. She never told me I was good. She might tell me thats
fine or that was okay, but never good. I feel that my entire dance career had led up to that
moment and I had been successful all because I owe everything to my guru and she felt that I did
good. That was more than enough for me.

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