Post News Network
Cuttack, Jan 4: The third day of the sixth Cuttack Mahotsav International dance and music festival saw some breathtaking performances by artistes from across the state and country.
At the outset, Biswajit Das from Rourkela left the audience spellbound with an Odissi performance. This was followed by Manipuri dance by Debanjani from Kolkata. “The Manipuri dance form is not as popular as Odissi and Bharatanatyam but is as graceful as any other Indian classical dance,” Debanjani said after her performance.
Tina Mohanty, a student of Class X who is learning Odissi, said that the Manipuri dance form is as difficult as Odissi.
“I had the impression that Odissi is hard to master, but there are dances like Manipuri that are as graceful and difficult to learn,” said Tina, adding that watching such performances is an enriching experience for youngsters like her who are trying to learn the nuances of the performing arts.
“Both modern and classical dance forms are popular among youngsters. It is unfair to dismiss modern dance forms as nonsense as some people do. They are as difficult to master as classical dances,” she said.
A vocal Odissi performance by Manjari Swain of Cuttack enthralled the people in the audience, some of whom were proud of such talent in their midst.
“I always believed that Cuttack residents are fond of the performing arts. However, youngsters performing Odissi vocal like experts is indeed a pleasant surprise,” said Soumyaranjan Behera, a resident of Mangalabag.
The Odissi vocal was followed by a Kathak group performance by Aparna, Barsha and Supriya from Bangalore that reminded some of the song by a band called Junoon that had a group Kathak performance in one of its music videos.
Later, Sandhya Muralidharan performed Bharatanatyam. Her deft moves were appreciated by the audience.
The Kala Vikas Kendra auditorium was jam packed as it was a Sunday but some people had been following the performances from day one. “I have watched all the performances since the inaugural day and am excited to see more in the days to come,” said Karthik S, a resident of Station Bazaar. Karthik said that as Cuttack is a city seeped in tradition and a rich heritage, it is natural for such events to attract a lot of people.
“It is heartening to see that even as people in cities like New Delhi and Mumbai pass lewd and unpleasant comments at artistes who perform classical dance, the same is not the case with residents of Cuttack. This is something that makes Cuttack different from other cities,” he said.
