Bhubaneswar, Aug. 18: Veteran artist Dinanath Pathy's new book Cherished Fragments takes Odissi from the stage to a sketchbook.
The sketchbook on Odissi dance gives an insight into the ancient perception of the dance form and the change that has happened to the tradition over the years. The line drawings - often using pastels or water colours - decode various poses and elements of Odissi and leaves an intriguing mesh with Pathy touching various formats of the dance form.
From highlighting poignant devotion to amorous couples to even the bonhomie between damsels or a scene from guru shishya training, Pathy's masterstrokes have captured the dance form in its various charms.
"I hope these few sketches in the book will make one experience the visual resonance of the graciousness that is life and art," said Pathy.
"The dancers, when you watch them keenly, leaves an impact on your mind and become your own. But shortly these imprints vanish giving rise to your own mental pictures of them, which come to stay with you for a much longer time," said Pathy.
His association with Malaysian Odissi artiste Ramli Ibrahim and his Sutra Dance Theatre as well as revered dancer Sanjukta Panigrahi and art historian Eberhard Fischer helped him understand the dance form properly. In the foreword, Ibrahim recollects his association with the artist.
"It is an engagement of modern approaches and ideas in simple compositions that integrate the traditional and the modern in a continuum of lyrical images," Pathy said.
Apart from being known for his creations and as an art historian and critic, Pathy is also a poet. He has also included a few of his poems in the book.
He has also contributed to various dance concerts and festivals, including the first edition of Mukteswar festival in 1984 and Konark dance festival in 1993.
Authors Sitakant Mahapatra and Dash Benhur and veteran danseuse Priyambadi Mohanty Hejmadi were present at the book release.
A poetry book Nila Tarang by J.P. Das was also released on the occasion. Pathy's other two books Pathara Ghara and Rang Kavita were also unveiled. A dance programme by Sutra was staged as well.
