Dancer Gayatri Chand performs at the International Odissi Festival in Bhubaneswar. Telegraph picture

Bhubaneswar, Dec. 26: Rich repertoires of solo and group performances were seen at the International Odissi Festival here. Some of the senior most Odissi dancers ensured that the festival got off to a befitting start at the Rabindra Mandap on Sunday evening.

The second and third day also saw a plethora of dazzling performances. The seven-day Odissi concert is being organised by Guru Kelucharan Mohapatra Odissi Research Centre under the aegis of the state department of tourism and culture.

Prominent artistes showcased different aspects of Odissi. Delhi-based veteran dancer Sonal Mansingh, Calcutta-based Aloka Kanungo, Bhubaneswar’s Gayatri Chand, Cuttack’s Meera Das and many others performed on the opening day.

Mansingh performed Adisakti Debi Nabarasa that depicted the different moods of the female form of divinity. After her rendition came a recital by Aloka Kanungo. She presented a pallavi, which depicted the intricate movements of the beautiful dance form.

Both Gayatri Chand and Meera Das’s sequences revolved around the intense feelings of love and pain of a woman waiting for her beloved. While Chand performed on Biraha bidhura, Das danced on an ashtapadi from Gita Govinda, Sakhi he, keshi mathana mudaram.

Other notable performers were differently-abled Odissi dancer Nityananda Das and Bijay Kumar Dash from Bhubaneswar, Nandita Behera from USA, Swapnarani Sinha and group from Angul and Mahagami and a group from Aurangabad.

“The Odissi duet presented by differently-abled Odissi dancer Nityananda Das with Bijaya Kumar Dash was emotional and heart-touching,” said Subhadra Pradhan, a viewer.

The second day witnessed a daylong programme of Odissi with a special feature of foreign dancers in the morning. Some of the artistes were Yukie Sato from Japan, Eleonora Ukhanova and Angelina Ukhanova from Russia (duet), Vinod Kevin Bachan from West Indies, Eiko Shinohara from Japan, Elena Knyazeva from Russia and Gargi Chhattopadhyay from USA. After the recitals by young soloists from within and outside the country, the evening saw presentations by senior dancers.

Veteran danseuse Padamshree Kumkum Mohanty presented the Kalabati pallavi and abhinaya Tore sarana gali re Murali. Other attractions were Navarasa by USA-based dancer Shipra Meherhotra. Illiana Citaristi’s Abhinaya Saranam depicting the woman empowerment taking episodes from different religions was innovative.

On Tuesday, senior dancer Madhavi Mudgal and young but popular dancer Rahul Acharya charmed the viewers. There were performances galore by dancers from Odisha and outside too.

Over 100 artistes from more than 10 countries such as Italy, Russia, USA, France, Japan, Mexico, Peru, Malaysia, Korea, Switzerland and from various states of India are taking part in the festival that will continue till December 29. Eminent names such as Minati Mishra and Madhavi Mudgal are also performing at the event.