Essays on Classical Indian Dance

Donovan Roebert is the author of a number of works of fiction and nonfiction. These include The Odissi Girl, The Rose Girl of Dharamkot, The Liberators, The Gospel for Buddhists and the Dharma for Christians and The Bearing of Culture on an Inhumane Society. He taught Buddhist theory and practice from 2006 to 2011. He is also an artist whose works are sold internationally.

1. On the Means and Ends of Rasa in Classical Indian Dance 2. Classical Indian Dance as Sadhana : Some Notes Inviting Elaboration 3. The Classical Indian Dancer as Poet, Interpreter, and Poem Itself : Some Simple Comments 4. Classical Indian Dance and the ‘Western’ Rasika : a Storm in a Teacup 5. On the Principle and Significance of Pratitya Samutpada in Classical Indian Dance 6. On Nritta: the Suspended Consummation of the Tale 7. Classical Indian Dance as a Discipline of Thought 8. On the Gunghroos: Ankle-Bells of Servitude and Mastery 9. The Space Between the Notes: Heather Lewis’s Remarkable Shastric Tour de Force 10. When is the Rasika Really a Rasika? 11. On the gramma of Classical Indian Dance : a Grecian Perspective 12. Writing The Odissi Girl: a Literary Analogue for the Dance 13. The Presence of the Absent Dancer 14. The Triumph of Mylapore Gauri Amma: A Short Incursion into Dance Genetics 15. The Language of the Dancing Body in Nritta, Part One 16. The Language of the Dancing Body in Nritta, Part Two 17. Eight Unities Re-enacted in Classical Indian Dance 18. Five Ways of Dancing That Get in the Way of Dance 19. The Preservation of Classical Indian Dance in Postmodernity 20. The Tenacious Survival of Classicism in Indian Dance 21. The Humanization of Rhythm and Form in Classical Indian Dance 22. The Problem of the Pushpanjali 23. Surprised by Dance: A Glimpse into My Personal Journey 24. Classical Indian Dance is a Humanism 25. Dance, Analysis, and the Willing Suspension of Disbelief 26. The Multilocality of Classical Indian Dance 27. On the Terrible Beauty of Moksha in Odissi 28. Jayantika: Archaeology and Imagination in the Reincarnation of Odissi 29. Sanjukta Panigrahi’s Contribution to Odissi: 1944-1964 30. The Foundational Ambiguity in Classical Indian Dance 31. The Karma of Classicism in Indian Dance 32. A Note of Thanks 33. On the Dancing Feet 34. Rukmini Devi and the Devadasi Question: An Opinion 35. A Note on Sringara Rasa 36. Classical Indian Dance at the Crossroads 37. On Filming Classical Indian Dance 38. Rasa in Filmed Classical Indian Dance 39. The Ineffable in Classical Indian Dance 40. On the Movement from one Adavu to the Next 41. The Personal Approach to Dance Criticism 42. The Sanitizing and Cleansing of Bharata Natyam 43. On ‘Pseudo-Spirituality’ in Classical Indian Dance 44. On the Freedom of Odissi to be Itself 45. Why I Choose to Write about Classical Indian Dance 46. Classical Indian Dance and Social Justice Activism 47. In Search of the Basis of ‘Spirituality’ in Classical Indian Dance