(Above) Disciples offer flowers to A Natarajan and Pandit Raghunath Panigrahi and (below) dancers perform at the Guru pujana on Kalinga Turyatrikam at Jayadev Bhavan. Pictures by Ashwinee Pati

Bhubaneswar, April 11: Celebrating the spirit of dance, cultural troupe Kalingayana Touryatrikam held a festival Anand Utsav at Jayadev Bhawan on April 8. The event was studded with performances by child Odissi dancers as well as well-known classical dancers such as Sanjay Joshi.

Child artistes began the evening with a Sandhya Stutee for Mangalacharan, invocating various gods and gurus. Although their movements were not synchronised, their expressions and movements won the hearts of the audience. The students then showered heaps of flowers on Bharatnatyam exponent A. Natarajan and eminent Odissi musician Pandit Raghunath Panigrahi.

While Bharatnatyam dancer Sharada from Chennai presented an impressive solo recital portraying stories of Shiva and Durga, an abhinaya in Odissi by Mita Das was praiseworthy for her graceful movements. Das is a young dancer from the Kalingayana Touryatrikam troupe. The most awaited performance of the evening was that of Sanjay Joshi. He lived up to expectations with a Bilasini Natyam, a temple ritual dance of Andhra.Joshi, the first-ever male to perform this form of temple dance, presented different aspects of the dance. He performed on a composition that was a blend of the Alaya Sampradaya that includes various rituals of temple worship and the Kacheyri Aata or the court tradition that includes elaborate Pallavis or pure dance. The dancer said he was honoured to be performing in the land of Lord Jagannath.

“Being a forerunner of a temple ritual dance form, I’m really delighted to have performed in Orissa which itself has a strong temple dance form Mahari, the mother of Odissi. The appreciation of the audience humbled me,” said Joshi. The audience seemed to have been mesmerised by his stage presence. “His energetic movements and captivating expressions were simply enchanting. It was a delight to watch this wonderful dancer,” said Ambika Das, a viewer.

“We have seen Mahari — the temple ritual dance from Orissa — many times here. It was interesting to see a unique form of dance from Andhra Pradesh. Bilasani Natyam has all the elements of classical dance,” said Paramita Mohapatra, another viewer.

The event concluded with a dance drama by students of the organising troupe who performed Yuge Yuge Jagannath, a composition that portrays the relevance of the spiritual philosophy of Lord Jagannath.