Odissi Gurus, scholars, researchers and enthusiasts witnessed an unforgettable night of classical dance at the annual festival of Gunjan Dance Academy
CUTTACK: The 23rd edition of Gunjan Dance Academy’s annual festival was conducted amid much fanfare at Saheed Bhawan here Friday.
The event witnessed a jam-packed audience filled with Odissi Gurus, scholars, researchers and enthusiasts.
The guests of the evening were OAS Bhabani Shankar Chaini, district magistrate, Cuttack, former MLA Debashis Samantaray, Kishore Mohanty of IMFA and head, Gunjan Dance Academy Meera Das.
The curtain raiser was performed by the students of Gunjan Dance Academy. The act was titled ‘Jagannath Mangalam’, based on a ritual during the annual car festival called ‘Pahandi Bije’. Lord Jagannath, Balabhadra and Goddess Subhadra are escorted to their majestic chariots amid immense joviality.
Next in line was ‘Batu Nritya’. It is a pure dance form and is presented as an offering to Lord Batuka Bhairava, one of the 64 forms of Lord Shiva. This dance item is redolent with sculpturesque poses describing such actions as the playing of the drum, veena, flute and cymbal.
It is performed only on rhythmic music without any recitation or singing. The next part is ‘nritya’ that encompass expressional dance or Abhinaya to communicate a story, song or poetry through hand gestures or ‘mudras’, emotions or ‘bhavas’ and eye and body movements.
This was also performed by students of the academy. The original choreography of the composition was done by legendary Guru Kelucharan Mahapatra.
Priyanka Jena, a senior disciple of Gunjan Dance Academy, performed on ‘Bibhusane Puspe’. The dance is based on the ‘Shringar’ by Goddess Sita before her marriage to Lord Ram. Priyanka’s expressions stole the hearts of many Odissi connoisseurs.
The performance of eminent dancer Sonali Mahapatra titled ‘Kuru Jaddu Nandan’, which is based on Goddess Radha asking Lord Krishna to prepare her, regaled Odissi enthusiasts.
Interacting with Orissa POST, Sonali said, “I am very humbled by the invitation of Gunjan Dance Academy. The music composition is by Abhiram Nanda and the choreography is done by me. After the meeting of Radha and Krishna, she asks Krishna to decorate her properly so that she can face the world once again.”
“I request aspirants to learn the artform religiously. If done without sincerity, the artiste will not be recognised,” she added.
After Sonali’s performance, students of the academy were back on stage as they performed ‘Shankaravaran Pallavi’ which is the third element of Odissi dance.
The end of the evening witnessed a beautiful ‘Krishnakathamruta’, which was based on the tales of Lord Krishna’s childhood. Dancers portrayed the magical childhood of Lord Krishna with panache and grace.
Inaugural Day
- The curtain raiser of the event was presented by the students of Gunjan Dance Academy. The dance, which was based on Car Festival, was titled ‘Jagannath Mangalam’
- Eminent dancer Sonali Mahapatra’s act titled ‘Kuru Jaddu Nandan’, which is based on Radha’s devotion to Lord Krishna, regaled Odissi enthusiasts on the occasion
