The penultimate evening of the award festival was marked by celebrated vocalist Bijay Kumar Jena’s Odissi recital, group presentations by Nrutyashala and Nrutyayan
BHUBANESWAR: The seven-day celebration of classical dance and music on the occasion of the 25th OMC Guru Kelucharan Mohapatra Award Festival moved on to its penultimate evening, after a stellar Sarod recital by Debasmita Bhattacharya on the fifth day, followed by engaging Odissi dance presentations by Nupur Dance Academy and Art Vision, Bhubaneswar.
The sixth evening of the festival was inaugurated by Prativa Ray, eminent author, Dhaneswar Swain, eminent Mardala player and percussionist, Ratikant Mohapatra, director, Srjan.
In a special presentation, an evening of Odissi Music by celebrated Odissi vocalist Bijay Kumar Jena was the first recital, accompanied by eminent musicians of Odisha, Satchidananda Das on the Mardala, Srinibas Satpathy on the flute, Balakrushna Jena on the Harmonium and Sitakanta Jena on the Manjira.
Highlighting the nuances and various facets unique to Odissi music, Bijay Kumar Jena’s recital began with a Prabandh in Raag Behag and Jati Taal, Prana dhana prana rakha dharuchi to paniki composed by eminent Odia poet Banamali. This was followed by another Prabandh in Raag Marwa and Ektaali, Barada Bidhure Ana composed by poet Benudhar.
Following this, Nrutyashala, led by Ashok Kumar Ghos presented the production Mun, the Immortal Devil. Based on the theme of pride, ego, and vanity of man, the presentation depicted well known mythological stories from three yugas before moving on to the present. In the Satya Yuga, Hiranyaksha was killed by Narasimha, in the Treta Yuga, Ravana was defeated by Lord Rama, in the Dwapara Yuga, Kamsa was crushed by Krishna and in the Kali Yuga, Mun, existing as a manifestation of the three aforementioned evils is shown to be trounced only by Om.
Thus, the presentation portrayed that in today’s world, each individual has a sense of ego and self-grandeur, and only the Almighty, Om can destroy it. Scripted by Nabakishore Mishra and set to the music composition of Himanshu Sekhar Swain, and the rhythm composition of Dhaneswar Swain and Ajay Kumar, the dance choreography for this presentation is by Ashok Kumar Ghosal. The dancers were praiseworthy in their stage presence and expressions.
The concluding presentation for the evening was Jagannath Gopinath by Durga Charan Ranbir’s Nrutyayan ensemble. In this choreograph, a parallel has been between the earlier form of Lord Krishna in Dwapara Yuga, and the rituals of Lord Jagannath at Puri. This composition has its literary base in multiple ancient texts including the Skanda Purana, Bhagavata by Atibadi Jagannath Das, and the poetry of Shri Goura Charan Adhikara and Shri Banamali Das. Set to Raga Malika and Talamalika, the script for this presentation has been written by Kedar Mishra, rhythm composition is by Dhaneswar Swain and the dance choreography is by Durga Charan Ranbir. The dancers presented this with good energy and crisp footwork, a befitting conclusion to the penultimate evening of the Award Festival. The programme was compered by Dr. Srinivas Ghatuari.
