Post news network
Bhubaneswar, Dec 20: An event that bears witness to the global appeal of Odissi dance got under way at Bhanja Kala Mandap, here, Tuesday. The seventh Odissi International, a five-day event being organised by Samskritiki in collaboration with several Odissi dance institutes, will feature performances by 265 Odissi dancers from 17 countries.
Dancers from countries such as Argentina, Australia, Bangladesh, Brazil, China, France, Sri Lanka, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, Russia, The Netherlands, Singapore, Switzerland, UK, and the US are participating in the programme. Renowned Indian dancers including Padmashri Kumkum Mohanty, Aruna Mohanty and Sujata Mohaptra are also to perform at the event.
On the inaugural day, Russian Odissi dancer Vitalina Lobach was honoured with Ambassador of Odissi Award for promoting the classical dance form abroad.
Festival director Shyamhari Chakra said: “The popularity of the festival is growing each year. Its objective is to bring the global Odissi family together and it encourages dancers to discover the cultural root of the dance form and to develop friendship among people from different countries.”
The organisers have dedicated this edition of the festival to the memory of Guru Ramani Ranjan Jena, who passed away recently.
Learners from overseas
Buddhi Edirisinghe, a 26-year-old from Sri Lanka who has been learning Odissi for the past six years is participating in Odissi International. A doctoral student of Odissi at Ravindra Bharti University, he is training under noted dancer Sujata Mohapatra. “I was a Kandyan dancer training at the Citrasen School of Dance in Sri Lanka. There I got to attend a workshop organised by Nrtuyagram and was exposed to Odissi; I fell in love with the dance form instantly. I applied for graduation in Kolkata and got the chance to learn Odissi under Aloka Kanungo.”
Buddhi feels his country has a strong cultural link with Orissa, the land from where king Ashoka started his quest to spread Buddhism across the waters, including to Sri Lanka. “When I started learning Odissi I faced several problems as Odissi is soft and feminine where as Kandyan dance is aggressive and more masculine. I had to transform myself a lot to learn the nuances of the dance in detail.”
Buddhi has performed at many dance festivals and wants to popularise the dance form in his country. “Recently I made a documentary on Odissi and its history. I have conducted lectures and given demonstrations and am planning to organise workshops on the dance. At present I am working on learning the dance form,” he said.
Another dancer at the festival, Turi Virag Reka from Hungary, started learning Odissi in 2006. “I had joined a group of vaishnav devotees in my country as a child and that got me interested in understanding the reason for my existence. I was told classical dances of India were means of knowing one’s self. I was already a contemporary dance teacher but was curious about India and its dance forms. So I joined Bharatnayam classes initially. But I discontinued training after a few lessons. Then I saw an Odissi performance and found it interesting. The style, the costumes, the postures, and hand movements attracted me,” she said.
Reka now stays in Bhubaneswar and has been learning more about the dance since last year. “I want to learn the dance form properly so that I can teach it to people in my country,” she added.
