Artistes Sweta Kiran and Saloni Rout perform at the dance Olympiad Naveen Kalakar in Bhubaneswar. Pictures by Sanjib Mukherjee

Bhubaneswar, June 5: Dancers from all over the country are taking part in the seventh edition of annual talent hunt Naveen Kalakar that started in the city on Tuesday at the Bhanja Kala Mandap.

The four-day dance symposium, which helps budding artistes to harness their talent, has become an innovative forum for dancers of all seven Indian classical genres.

Over 150 dancers from across the country and some from the USA and Bangladesh are putting in their best efforts to gain the maximum points from the judges so they may gain good individual titles.

“We have designed the festival on the lines of the more than 70-year-old Kal ke Kalakar talent hunt of Mumbai for young artistes that had featured maestros such as Kathak exponent Pandit Birju Maharaj during his teenage. Here, at Naveen Kalakar, we try to explore the flair in classical dancers aged 10 to just above 30,” said Jagabandhu Jena, the festival organiser.

The dance styles featured in the festival include seven Indian classical forms of Odissi, Bharatnatyam, Kuchipudi, Kathak, Mohiniattam, Sattriya and Manipuri.

The first session from 9am to 3pm features junior Odissi dancers’ solo performances. These artistes come under the age group of 10 to 19.

The evening session is for senior dancers aged from 20 to over 30 of all the seven classical dance forms.

A duet segment in only Odissi and Bharatnatyam is also hosted at the festival this year.

“This is not a competition but an Olympiad in which the artistes get certain scores to know what is best in their performance and where they need improvement. Those who secure 75 per cent or above, will be awarded with the titles Nrutya Jyoti, Odissi Jyoti and so on in the fields of different dance genres. Junior Odissi talents will be given the Odissi Shree title,” informed Jena.

Artistes from 20 cities from across the country are performing at the event. Urjasee Basak from Calcutta started off as the first dancer of the festival on Tuesday. Dancers from outside appear to enjoy being here.

“It is amazing to see talented dancers trained by top most gurus taking part in the Olympiad. I wish there were gurus from all genres present here to see the dancing spectacles. The festival is an amazing platform for us,” said Vibha Thakkar, a Bharatnatyam dancer from Gujarat.

The festival jointly organised by the state department of culture will conclude on June 7.