# Odissi Performance by [[Vishnupriya Goswami]] > [!info] 5:00-5:30 p.m. - Thursday, 3 July 2025 - Coombs Seminar Room F ![[odissi-vishnupriya.png]] ## Performer Profile [[Vishnupriya Goswami]] is a professional Odissi classical dancer and a graduate student at the University of Washington - Seattle (USA). She has been training for over two decades at Venunad Kalakendra under the guidance of Guru Kujalata Mishra and Guru Pratap Narayan. Vishnupriya is a recipient of the prestigious Young Artist Scholarship awarded by the Government of India and is a graded artist with Doordarshan, India’s national public service broadcaster. Her work extends beyond performance—she served as a cultural diplomat in South Korea, presenting Odissi in multiple cities with her Guru, and has delivered lecture-demonstrations on Indian aesthetics and movement, including a recent session on *Navarasa* at the University of Washington. Most recently, she performed at Benaroya Hall in Seattle (USA) as part of the Cultural Feast 2025, organised by FIUTS (Foundation for International Understanding Through Students). ## Performance Program [[Vishnupriya Goswami]]’s performance is a two-part journey through *Abhinaya*, the expressive core of Odissi dance, rooted in devotion and poetic embodiment. The presentation begins with an invocation to Lord Shiva through *Śivāṣṭakam*, a Sanskrit composition rich in rhythmic and metaphysical imagery. In the Indian classical tradition, it is considered deeply auspicious to commence a performance by offering it to Shiva—Nataraja, the Lord of Dance—whose *Tāṇḍava* signifies the primal cosmic rhythm. This invocation not only sets the tone for spiritual receptivity but also aligns the dancer’s body and mind with the divine flow of movement. Following this, Vishnupriya transitions into the delicate and intimate world of *Rāsa*, through an Oriya *Abhinaya* piece centred on Radha and Krishna - R*ādhārānī sange nāce muralī pānī* ("Queen Rādhā dances with the one who plays flute"). The two works, *Śivāṣṭakam* and *Rādhārāṇī*, draw from different linguistic traditions (Sanskrit and Oriya), yet together weave a shared aesthetic of *bhakti* and *rasa*. The progression from Shiva to Krishna is not merely thematic; it reflects an inner continuity. In many devotional and artistic traditions, Shiva himself is seen as a *rasika*—one who is deeply immersed in Krishna's divine play. Thus, the performance becomes a movement from the cosmic dance of Shiva to the intimate emotional landscapes of Radha and Krishna, uniting power and tenderness, austerity and longing, in a single artistic arc.