**OOPALEE OPERAJITA** **OOPALEE OPERAJITA** is an established Odissi dancer; studied Odissi with Kelucharan Mohapatra and Debaprasad Das. She has also learnt Bharatnatyam. She has performed extensively in India and abroad. THIS PAPER will explore Indian classical dance with reference to Indian and Western aesthetics. In examining the dance, I will be drawing from theories formulated by some of the finest minds in the East and West. While there has been some debate about the relevance of Western aesthetics to Eastern art, I would like to show that there is a relevance, and that the thinking of some of the finest minds in Western thought does indeed apply to classical Indian dance - what Plato and Socrates said, for example, does apply. So do the postulates of Heidegger’s famous disciple, Hans-Georg Gadamer. I will also be referring to the thought of Susanne Langer and Rene Daumal. Amongst Indian aestheticians, I will be drawing