Artistes stage dance drama Siddhartha at Rabindra Mandap in Bhubaneswar. Pictures by Ashwinee Pati

Bhubaneswar, July 30: Spirituality and aesthetics were both at their best in Odisha Dance Academy’s latest production Siddhartha that was staged for the first time at Rabindra Mandap on Tuesday evening.

Connoisseurs enjoyed the intricate choreography by Aruna Mohanty in the dance drama loosely based on Nobel laureate Herman Hesse’s famous novel of the same title.

The tale of Prince Sidhhartha, who later transformed into the enlightened Buddha, was told in the dance drama that was full of exotic formations and artistic expressions used by the dancers of the institute. “Siddhartha’s journey from childhood to adolescent is quite a complex one. Being a seeker of truth he is never satisfied with the knowledge that he gains from the scriptures and taught by his teachers. Setting up his journey as a young sanyasin (hermit) he saw various ways of penance and become a part of it,” said Mohanty.

The production depicted phases of the prince’s life when he would get attracted towards pleasure and sensuality, but eventually find enlightenment in the most unexpected of men and places.

“His real guide and mentor Basudeva, the ferryman taught Siddhartha the real meaning of life. The river becomes a mirror. Siddhartha experiences his truth with the flow of river. Here he saw the Viswaroopa,” added Kedar Mishra, the script director for the composition.

Lyrics for the production have been crafted with reference from a number of epics and classics such as works of Santha Tulsi Das, Odia Bhagabata, Bhagabat Gita, Swetaswetar Upanishad. Professor Naba Kishore Mishra has also added insights. The music was composed with inputs from Guru Gopal Chandra Panda, Guru Ramahari Das, Guru Bijaya Ku Jena and Sumanta Mohanty while Dhaneswar Swain and Guru Bijaya Kumar Barik designed the rhythm.

The dancers, who presented the beautiful act, were Pabitra, Biswajit, Pankaj, Pravat, Bijan, Rajesh, Pratap, Deepak, Binayak, Madhusmita, Pooja, Sasmita, Mitali, Arunima, Shreepunya, Ananya, Tanushree, Muskan and Shreya.

From a medley of emotions to an assortment of acts of group and solo dance, there was much for the viewers in the fresh production. “The theme and execution were both beautiful and enchanting at moments,” said Priyaranjan Jena, a viewer.

Choreographer Mohanty, known for her lavish productions, said that she gathered inspiration from some events of the novel but the production was original and novel in many ways. “As a choreographer I do prefer to draw a storyline juxtaposing few episodes which are not necessarily events of the novel. It’s an independent choreography taking inspiration from Herman Hesse’s work, but drawing its own course of presentation,” she said.