post news network, Bhubaneswar, April 10: The 5th Anand Utsav, an Odissi dance festival, organised by Kalingayana Touryatrikam, where several young children performed, was held at the Soochana Bhawan here Friday.
Dancers from Odissi Dance School comprising students in the age group of 4 to 26 years performed on the occasion. Around 14 groups enthralled the audience with their performance.
Arun Kumar Sahoo, minister of state (independent charge), panchayati raj, law, who attended the programme, appreciated the initiative of Kalingayana Touryatrikam for promoting Odissi dance among young children and organising such events, which give an opportunity to young talents to perform in front of huge gathering. “Odissi dance is popular because of eminent dancers like Guru Kelucharan Mohapatra and his disciples. It is great that it is still very popular in the age where youngsters prefer modern dance forms. The young girls and boys who aspire to become Odissi dancers should try hard so that one day they would become as popular as Guru Kelucharan,” Sahoo said.
The organisers of the event felicitated eminent Odissi vocalist Guru Ramahari Das and eminent musician and choreographer and ex-chief minister Giridhar Gamang with Anand Shree Samman for playing an important role to popularise Odissi music.
Suchitra Mishra, a bank employee who attended the programme with her daughter said, “The performance by the young girls was too beautiful; I really enjoyed the performance. In traditional Odissi dance dress, all of them looked like angels. Odissi dance is popular worldwide and it is our responsibility to carry on the tradition. Young students should be encouraged to learn the dance form so that they can carry our tradition forward.
