This workshop will introduce the participants to the basic exercises, positions, moves, and sentiments (rasas) that comprise Odissi. Attention will be paid to footwork, form and hand gestures known as mudras which are both ornamental and used as a basic sign language to convey stories based on ancient Indian literature as well as modern-day themes. Emphasis will be placed on both nritta, or non-literal dance, which emphasizes form and rhythmic footwork and nritya or abhinaya–a type of stylized mime.
After devoting herself to modern dance, hatha yoga and improvisational movement, Durga Bor began her studies in Odissi (also referred to as Odeshee) Classical Dance at Naropa Institute, Boulder, Colorado, where she was a dance and philosophy major. Subsequently, she went to India to study in New Delhi under Guru S. N. Jena at Triveni Kala Sangam and received a five-year diploma. In 1985 she was invited by the National Centre for the Performing Arts, Mumbai, to participate in an intensive-study workshop under the guidance of the renowned Odissi master, Guru Kelu Charan Mohapatra. She returned to India in 1989 for fourteen months after being awarded a Professional Development Fellowship by the American Institute of Indian Studies (AIIS). During that period she studied in Bhubaneswar, Orissa, at the Odissi Research Centre where she learned choreography with Manoranjan Pradhan and simultaneously received intensive training from Guru Gangadhar Pradhan at the Orissa Dance Academy, doing both practical study and research. She returned to the United States in 1994, after being based in Amsterdam for thirteen years where she taught dance at the ISTAR School for Indian Music and Dance, De Nieuw Amsterdam Theatre School, and Muziekschool Amsterdam’s Wereld Muziekschool. In 2005 she returned to India on an AIIS Senior Fellowship in the Performing Arts where she continued her training. She is retired from Cornell University where she worked from 1994 to 2016 as cultural and academic events coordinator, administrator and outreach educator for the South Asia Program and Dance Lecturer for the Department of Performance and Media Arts, the South Asia Program and Athletics.. She has performed in North America, Europe and India. She is retired from Cornell University where she worked from 1994 to 2016 as cultural and academic events coordinator, administrator and outreach educator for the South Asia Program and Dance Lecturer for the Department of Performance and Media Arts, the South Asia Program and Athletics.