Widely believed to be the oldest Indian dance tradition, odissi has transformed over the centuries from a sacred temple ritual to a transnational genre performed throughout the world. Building on ethnographic research in multiple locations, this book traces the evolution of odissi dance and reveals the richness, rigor, and complexity of the form as it is practiced today. Dance travels via physical bodies, and although odissi is performed the world over, the bodies performing it are defined and restricted by passports, visas, capital flows, language, and gender. Even dancers who do not (or cannot) perform outside their