Actress Archita Sahu with young dancers at the show

Bhubaneswar, July 21: Along with drizzle, cultural events were also raining in the city yesterday. While renowned artistes crooned monsoon melodies at Rabindra Mandap, kids and teenagers grooved to Western tunes at Jayadev Bhavan.

Students of Yes! You Can Dance, a city-based dance institute, gyrated on various genres of western dance. The array of dance recitals began with belly dance. Two youngsters danced on Bollywood tracks Mashaallah, Sajna ve, and an Arabic song. It was followed by the founder of the institute, Shibani, presenting a contemporary act with 14 kids.

The act was much applauded as young dancers brilliantly synchronised the steps with their mentor in it. The subsequent act was funk jazz where teenagers danced to the track I hate love stories. As the evening progressed, acts of hip-hop and salsa also delighted members of the audience.

Shibani, who has spent her initial years in Iran and has been a professional dancer for the last six years, set up the institute in Bhubaneswar a year ago. “Though my genre is Western, I am also learning Kathak and Odissi. Dance should not have any barriers of genres, but must have an individual style,” said the 36-year-old artiste.

Actress Archita Sahu who was there to encourage the kids not only did an impromptu ramp walk with them but also sang the song Mu chulbuli prajapati to entertain them.

Another cultural event titled Barsha Bitan was organised by Bhubaneswar Music Circle yesterday. The event was dedicated to rainy season melody Malhar raga. Eminent singers such as Adyasa Das, Meera Panda, Sangita Gosain, Siddharth Mishra, Susmita Das, Mitali Chinara and others lent their sonorous voice on many Odia songs based on the raga such as Sabu ritu chailgala pare, Bauda re thare sunija and Ketaki go kholo ankhi. There was also a performance on raag Jayanti Malhar, which is a blend of raag Jaijaiwanti and raag Miya Ki Malhar. “Poets and singers over centuries have serenaded rains. Our organisation, too, played a small role in dedicating songs to monsoon,” said Khirod Patnaik, secretary of the music circle.