Bhubaneswar, Aug. 29: The Rabindra Mandap auditorium echoed with applause as dance recitals and musical symphony rained on the second evening of the three-day Barsha festival organised by Chinta O Chetana.

Ace Odissi dancer Sujata Mohapatra’s regaled the viewers from far and wide on Tuesday. Well-known tabla player Tapas Pal presented his fusion production, Rhythm Symphony, which was a celebration by percussion instruments.

Pal and his disciples captured the attention of the audience with a recital that included a blend of traditional sounds and western instruments. The fusion of khol, tabla, mridang and pakhawaj with western drums and cymbals under the able direction of Pal received loud cheers from the viewers.

There was an interesting change of pace in the symphony, where the rhythms started off with soft beats and went on to reach a crescendo as each instrument joined the symphony one after another.

Dance enthusiasts from various spheres waited with bated breath to watch the following event, a jugalbandi between Odissi diva Sujata Mohapatra and Kathak danseuse Prerana Deshpande.

The segment began with an exhilarating duet when both dancers performed a recital of Ardhanarishwar using the traditional grammar of Odissi and Kathak.

Sujata’s aesthetic poses and articulate facial expressions enlivened Goddess Parvati on stage, while Prerana’s animated depictions of the mood swings of Lord Shiv added to the beauty of the combination of the two dance forms.

Sujata’s guru, the legendary Kelucharan Mohapatra, had choreographed the Odissi part and Prerana herself created the Kathak piece. The recital reflected the duality of nature, as a creation of man and woman’s union.

Solo performances of the two dancers followed soon. Sujata transformed into a delighted peacock with ease, dancing to welcome the rain and then poignantly depicted the pain of a lovelorn woman in the piece Barsha choreographed by Ratikanta Mohapatra.

Prerana reappeared and presented a series of eloquent parans and bols or the segment in which the Kathak dancer first calls out the beats of the rhythm and then dances to the same beats. The danseuse received many rounds of applause from the viewers.

The concluding recital received overwhelming response as the dancers presented Kaisi ye bhalayi re kanha on raga Bhairavi set to teen taal in a tarana in Kathak and abhinaya in Odissi. Both brought alive the tales of Lord Krishna on stage. Both dance forms stood out for their individual beauty. The crowd gave a standing ovation to the artistes.

“It was pure poetry on stage. The dancers lived up to our expectations,” said Shraddhaa, dance enthusiast.