Sujata Mohapatra and Muktilata Pal perform Odissi duet to pay tribute to Guru Kelucharan Mohapatra in Bhubaneswar. Picture by Ashwinee Pati

Bhubaneswar, April 11:A legendary guru and an extraordinary soul, Guru Kelucharan Mohapatra seems to be alive through his disciples who dedicated the tinkling of their dancing bells to their guru on his seventh death anniversary on Friday evening. Assembling in large numbers, his disciples, who are today some of the most prominent Odissi dancers, paid a tribute to the maestro at the fourth edition of ‘Remembering Guruji’.

An initiative by danseuse Illeana Citaristi, the event showcased compositions by Mohapatra on a particular theme every year. This year’s theme was pallavis, choreographed by the Odissi exponent decades back for eminent dancers including Sanjukta Panigrahi and Kumkum Mohanty.

The two-hour dance programme included various forms of pallavis. The event opened with a batu nritya, the most complicated form of Odissi that is based on shudha nritya with a series of intricate steps. This piece was rendered by Manoranjan Pradhan.

An enchanting sequence was presented by the late guru’s disciple and daughter-in-law Sujata Mohapatra along with other disciples Muktilata Pal and Meera Das. The trio performed an astounding composition of elaborate rhythmic movements that Kelucharan Mohapatra had created in 1965.

The saveri pallavi by Itishree Dwivedi and Pranati Mohanty celebrated spring and beauty finding a rhythmic connection between the blooming of flowers and the decking up of young girls with ornaments. Citaristi’s rendition on raga Khamaj depicted the high spirits of a damsel when she is enjoying the shringara rasa or a systematic process of adorning make-up. Mohapatra had composed the piece for Sanjukta Panigrahi in 1979.

The abhari pallavi by Anil Lenka and Utkalika Pahad Singh had added splendour to the choreography while bilahari pallavi by Sikta Das was intricate.

The most remarkable presentation of the evening was a rendition of Moksha — a form of shudha nritya that is slowly vanishing from repertories.

Presented by Sujata Mohapatra, Illeana Citaristi and Pranati Mohanty, the sequence sarva mangala mangalya was an exquisite composition by the guru, that included acrobatic steps, performed by the dancers. It had an essence of spirituality conveyed by mesmerising expressions of the dancers.

“The repertory of Odissi cannot be complete without a Mokshya item since it takes the dancer closer to the divine. Guruji used to give thrust on the item,” said dancer Saswat Joshi, who was the compere for the evening.

“What can be more captivating than his frontline disciples paying tribute to him by sharing the stage to perform his choreographies as they were,” said Vineeth, a researcher on Odissi. “Last year the theme was abhinayas composed by Guruji. This year the elaborate pallavis were fascinating,” said Odissi danseuse Amanda Geroy from USA.