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| (From top) Actress Archita Sahoo, dancers Gitanjali Acharya and Ragini Chandrasekhar perform at the Ekamra Nrutya Mahotsav in Bhubaneswar. Pictures by Sanjib Mukherjee |
Bhubaneswar, June 25: A host of cultural programmes under way at the city auditoriums treated the audience to soul–stirring renditions and elegant classical dance performances.
The three-day dance festival, Ekamra Nrutya Mahotsav, organised by Suravi concluded today. Four budding classical artistes showcased praiseworthy performances in Odissi and kathak at Jayadev Bhavan.
The second day of the mahotsav began with Arpita Pany, a student of Suravi, presenting Ashabari pallabi based on raga Ashabari.
Her next piece was an abhinaya, Sate ki bhangi hela, seja banke chaliba, describing the story of Radha when she fell head-over-heels in love with Krishna all over again after reminiscing his valour and beauty.
The inaugural day of the Mahotsav had in store some of the eminent artistes from New Delhi, who gave a grand start to the cultural fest.
Vocalist Sidharth Kishore, Odissi dancer Meera Das and Bharatnatyam dancer Ragini Chandrasekhar mesmerised the audience with their performances.
Cine artiste Archita Sahoo’s performance of Odissi recitals added spunk to the festival. Janavi Behera, a young dancer from Odisha Dance Academy, was the next performer to take over the stage.
She started with Ai giri Nandini nandita medini biswa binodini nandi nute — an ancient Durga stuti that had been choreographed by eminent dancer Aruna Mohanty. She presented another enchanting piece titled Rasha where she depicted four episodes from the Ramayan – hasya, bhaya, karuna and santa.
Next on the podium was Kankana Bhattacharya, a Calcutta-based dancer who enthralled the audience with her Ram Bandana and a recital on Meerabai bhajan — Hari tum haro jao ho pir. The second day concluded with another Odissi item from Lopamudra Jena. Her act, Birachita chaturabadanam, was well appreciated by the audience.
The event concluded with a remarkable performance by flautist Abhiram Nanda and dance renditions by Dipty Mishra, Amrita Pattsani and Nabanita Pal in Odissi and Hyderabad artiste Himabindu Kanoj in Kuchipudi.
Last week also saw a congregation of renowned national and international dancers at the first-ever International Dance Congress organised by the city-based cultural organisation Devadasi Nrutya Mandir.
The artistes from all forms of Indian classical dances presented some beautiful recitals on the occasion. Kathakali dancer Harapriya Nambudiri, Kuchipudi and Odissi dancer from the US, Nabanita Pal, Kathak dancer Uma Dogra, Mahari artiste Rupashree Mohaptra, Madhavi Chandran, well-known Mohiniattam dancer, Kathak artiste Uma Dogra were among the few who performed at the three-day congress held in Rabindra Mandap.