Trikāyā by Bijayini Satpathy: Solo Odissi with Live Music

Trikāyā is a solo Odissi dance performance with live music accompaniment, lasting 60 minutes without intermission. It was conceived and choreographed by Bijayini Satpathy, who also dances, with music composed by Bindhumalini Narayanaswamy. The work draws on the story of Brihannala from the ancient Sanskrit epic the Mahabharata, the transgender form taken by the archer Arjuna after being cursed by the celestial nymph Urvashi, in which he becomes a dance instructor to Princess Uttara. Through four characters — the warrior, the nymph, Brihannala and the princess — the performance explores transformation, embodiment and identities beyond rigid gender binaries in the classical Odissi vocabulary.