Book Review - Attendance 2021-22: From here to eternity through dance - Dr. S D Desai

The human body is in bondage to its limitations, manifest in its instincts and desires, and its mortality. What makes human existence fascinatingly unique on the earth is that it also has a longing to be free from the bondage and be one with the Supreme it feels it is part of. The jeevatma, it is at times said, seeks to be one with the Param Atma or the individual spirit yearns to merge with the pure universal spirit, the source of ananda or complete bliss. The dimension of yearning of this bipolar human existence is relevant particularly to the domain of arts, which at their best turn to the pursuit of the Ultimate. The process is as much a part of mysticism as the Ultimate is!

Dance, like any other art, is a medium to get to the desired destination. It is however considered by most dancers, like practitioners of other arts, today as a means of entertainment, material gain and fame. Ashish Mohan Khokar and the guest editor Ranee Kumar have chosen in Attendance 2021-22 to get contributions - some of them by writers unfamiliar to the year book's regular readers - on a complex theme of Dance and Mysticism an average viewer/reader is likely to find esoteric. The variety of approaches to the subject makes each article an absorbing read and reaffirms significance of Attendance, always springing a surprise by way of its theme besides being richly illustrated and with a sense of aesthetics.

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