DEAR DEAD DANCER
Essay-Performance

This essay performance is an open letter to a pivotal figure in the reconstruction and revival of Odissi dancing, Kelucharan Mahapātra (1926-2004). Auto-ethnographic notes, photographs, documentary film footage and live performance of song and dance, all collectively articulate a surplus of questions thrown up by the practice and pedagogy of temple dancing across categorical delineations of tradition and modernity.