Artistes perform dance ballet Mahanadi choreographed by Odissi dancer Ileana Citaristi. Telegraph pictures

Bhubaneswar, May 4: The new generation of Odissi choreographers have brought in fresh concepts and novel elements to the productions today. Many of them are experimenting with aspects that deviate from the conventional dance dramas.

According to choreographers, this is an attempt to explore new possibilities of expression in Odissi.

With the city hosting more festivals dedicated to choreography, distinct dance dramas in Odissi are often staged. Adding a touch of grandeur by using strong lighting, newly composed music, script and lyrics and a large number of dancers, the choreographers try to make these abhinayas (sequences using enactment through dance) lively.

Eminent danseuse Aruna Mohanty feels that a choreographer is endowed with the responsibility to carry forward the creativity in dance.

“Every choreography is the reflection of its producer’s perspective of the concept. What make an old theme new are the approach, analysis and execution of the subject. Be it a production of ’50s or 2012, the depiction of the same theme is bound to be different, just like the Gita Govinda excerpts were composed in completely different ways by the gurus,” she said.

Mohanty’s production Krishna Sharanam received rave reviews when staged recently. The dance item was based on various episodes from the life of lord Krishna and highlighted morals that are relevant today.

Dancer Ratikant Mohapatra’s production Ravana discovers the hero in the villain from epic Ramayana.

“Ramayana has been an age-old subject for Odissi compositions. But I wanted to do something different. During my analysis of the story, I found that it was Ravana who led the tale, or the story would never be told,” said Mohapatra.

While Mohanty used audio-visual effects to make her production even more fascinating, Mohapatra used a sutradhar in his dance drama. But these experiments also received negative criticism.

“With a change in culture, we should be given the liberty to introduce elements that help the audience understand the performance. Sometimes the language of dance suffices, but taking advantage of technology by using audio visual elements or subtitles of Sanskrit or Odia songs translated to English should be encouraged,” said Mohanty.

The Odissi dance ballet Mahanadi by Ileana Citaristi was unique for its concept of telling the tale of the main river on which Odisha depends. On the other hand, her composition Mana Bhanjana went back to the usual mythological themes on which Odissi has been performed since ages. But her performance was lavish with well-decorated settings and props.

Among other much-loved young choreographers were Meera Das and Bichitrananda Swain. Both are known for their deep-rooted traditions of Odissi portrayed in the performance while still being able to add a fresh spark to the compositions.

“It is important to come up with original choreographies. But at the same time, it’s not the lavish settings or usage of props when not required that strikes a chord with the viewer. I feel it has to be a novel perspective of the subject being depicted as well as a strong emotive abhinaya that should be able to involve the viewers,” said Swain, whose last production Karna, which is based on the mythological warrior’s story from Mahabharata, leave the audience teary eyed whenever performed.