Bhubaneswar: Cultural organisation Srjan concluded a month-long Odissi workshop in the city on Wednesday.

More than 40 years since its inception in the late 1970s by Kelucharan Mohapatra, the workshop has been a part of the institution's tradition every year.

"The annual workshop was held in two sessions from May 1 to May 15 and again from May 16 to May 30 with participants from all across the globe attending classes and weekend presentations," said Ratikant Mohapatra from Srjan.

During the week, the days began with intensive body conditioning sessions, such as yoga conducted by senior fitness instructor Bibhudutta Rout. This was followed by training in the basic grammar and techniques of Mohapatra and then pure Odissi forms were taught in detail, with special attention to the nuances of taal (rhythm) and abhinay (drama).

During the weekends, special lectures, demonstrations and performances were organised for the participants to understand better the intricacies of Odissi dance and related aspects, through the sharing of experience by stalwarts in the field of performing arts.

The first weekend witnessed a session by Ileana Citaristi, Odissi dance exponent and disciple of Kelucharan Mohapatra, who shared her experience in the field of Odissi. The next weekend featured Odissi dancer Rahul Acharya, who spoke about the significance of Jagannath culture in Odisha and its influence in Odissi dance, and Nityananda Mishra, eminent Sanskrit scholar who shed light on the role of religion in Indian philosophy.

During the following weekend, a two-day mime workshop by Niranjan Goswami, was organised at the Odissi Research Centre, Bhuban-eswar. This delved into the subtleties of emotions facial expressions and non-lingual acting.

"The workshop was a source of inspiration and encouragement for all students who got to see in a nutshell the creation, evolution and establishment of Odissi dance as an internationally-acclaimed art form," said Ratikant.

Srjan also organised a screening of the movie Bhavantaranam by Kumar Shahani on the life and times of Kelucharan Mohapatra and older dance performances by Ratikant, including ashtapadis from the Geet Govinda and an abhinay.

The concluding evening of the weekend presentations included in-house performances by Reebdhita Barua and Sandhya Manoj, disciples of Ratikant.

Reebdhita showcased Bhagavati Stotram, an item taught during the summer workshop, Sandhya performed an abhinaya on ashtanayika.