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Bhubaneswar, June 8: Bimohana Creative, an institute that promotes Odissi, organised its maiden classical dance programme at Rabindra Mandap here Wednesday. The Bimohana Kala Samman-2016 was also given away at the event.
Danseuse Guru Aruna Mohanty was conferred with the Bimohana Kala Samman for her exceptional contribution to classical dance and for being an inspiration to younger generations.
Aruna is considered one of the finest Odissi dancers and she believes the dance is the essence of her soul and the rhythm connects her with a divine force. According to experts, her performances offer the perfect blend of bhava, bhangi, taala and abhinaya — particularly the latter.
Aruna was trained by Padmashree Guru Gangadhar Pradhan and received the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award in 2010.
The danseuse told Orissa POST: “I am grateful to the institution for giving me the award. It is always a boost to all dancers and for promoting the dance form.”
Aruna presented an Odissi composition ‘Ki Nadare’ at the event. “This recital represents love, devotion and respect Krishna holds for his beloved Radha, for Meera and for Yasodha, respectively. It represents the divine bond that exists among the four characters,” Aruna added.
The founder of Bimohana Creative, Rashmi Ranjan Barik, said the initiative was aimed at supporting young dancers keen to learn Odissi and to make a career of the dance. “Many youngsters are interested in learning Odissi. So I decided to establish this institution,” Barik said.
The 24-year-old had himself learned Odissi from Gurus Gangadhar Pradhan, Bichitra Swain, Nabakishore Mishra, Amulya Balabantray and Lingaraj Pradhan, among others.
Besides the award function, the programme included dance recitals by senior artistes including Lingaraj Swain (Odissi), Tanya Saxena from New Delhi (Bharatnatyam), Bichitra Nanda Swain (Odissi), Tabusmi Paul Majumdar (Kathak) from Kolkata and Yudhisthir Nayak (Odissi).
Tanya gave a solo performance and presented ‘Ardhanariswar’ through bharatanatyam. “People are used to the presentation of this concept in Odissi, but its enactment in Bharatanatyam was aimed at giving viewers a different experience. Hope they enjoyed it,” Tanya said.
She was initiated into dance through western dance forms such as jazz and salsa. But she went on to choose classical dance over other dance forms. She said Bharatanatyam was richer than western dance forms.
Tabusmi, in turn, presented three dance compositions — Shiva bandana, Bilambit Teen Taal, and Thumbki.
“Shiva Bandana was an expression of devotion for Lord Shiva and Thumbki portrays the love between gopis and Krishna,” she explained.
Students of Bimohana Creative presented solo recitals at the function. “I hope my students will dedicate themselves to safeguarding the ancient culture of Orissa,” Barik said.
