The Hierarchy of Parampara: Rethinking Relationship to Legacy in Dance

In this article, author Aadya Kaktikar complicates simplistic attribution of apprentice-learning in the Indian context to a lack of creativity and personal expression. Kaktikar shows how play becomes central to the teaching and learning procedures of a traditional art form of Odissi. Investigating her training with her Guru, Kaktikar urges for play to remain central despite hierarchies within structural formations and across technical procedures, which are perhaps necessary for cultural/ historical continuity of form and content.