Though the dance is practiced by male and female individuals from diverse geographical locations and status groups, it is generally male practitioners from rural areas of Odisha who are recognised as its legitimate transmitters. The women, who generally belong to urban backgrounds, are considered to be the performers of the dance. However, while they do not obtain the same recognition as the men, some women are actually transmitting Odissi. But then, how does their teaching differ from that of the men?

In order to shed light on this question, the study investigates the modalities of transmission of female practitioners in Odissi in India. The methods of inquiry consist primarily of observation, video, and audio recordings of training situations and interviews undertaken in selective dance schools in Bhubaneswar, capital city of Odisha, as well as another metropolitan city in India.

Through co-editor Barbara Curda and the project's relationship to the IFP, GATRODI is a contributor to the Knowhow in a Shifting World edited volume of the HAB Methodologies book series. This edited volume discusses the question of knowhow, not only as an epistemic question of knowledge production but also, as overt, and or covert, process(es) of transmission and learning, in different contexts, and to address, methodologically, the prevailing binary between knowhow and knowledge. 

This project has received funding from the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme wider the Marie Sklodowska-Curie grant agreement No. 101033051. 

Hero Image Credit: Suko Lam