Odissi dancer Gitanjali Acharya performs at Jayadev Bhavan in Bhubaneswar. Picture by Ashwinee Pati

Bhubaneswar, Feb. 12: Odissi dance connoisseurs saw a fine solo recital on Monday evening at Jayadev Bhavan in the city.

Senior disciple of famous dancer Sujata Mohapatra, Geetanjali Acharya presented a series of outstanding choreographies of legendary Guru Kelucharan Mohapatra.

Today, another cultural soiree, the annual Dhauli Kalinga Mahotsav was announced.

Geetanjali began with Maanikya Veena, a tribute to Goddess Saraswati that was followed by a beautiful display of Kirwani pallavi. The intricate pallavi has beautiful gestures and movements. The dancer also teaches Odissi in Delhi.

Geetanjali’s dance moves had finesse, which her alma mater Srjan is known for imparting in its students. But it was not just the pure dance sequence that she showed expertise in.

She went on to present two abhinayas, in which she displayed versatile facial expressions and emotions.

Geetanjali performed on a romantic song Patha Chhaadidia, where a girl of Brindaban asks Krishna to not block her way since she has to go and collect flowers.

Her act made the audience feel the devotee’s love for Krishna and yet trying to avoid him. She also performed Jaatavi Galajwala in praise of Lord Shiv where she moved on from a soft and romantic item to a vigorous and pulsating composition with grace.

Geetanjali concluded her recital with an enchanting choreography of Mokshya or the spiritual genre of Odissi dance.

In this segment she presented Sarba mangala mangalye wishing for world peace and happiness. The viewers showered loud applauses for the performance of the dancer.

While the original music of the repertoire was by Pandit Bhubaneswar Mishra, she danced to live music that included the vocals of Rupak Parida and instrumentals were by Ekalavya Muduli on mardala, Jawahar Mishra on flute and Agnimitra Behera on the violin.

The programme was presented by local cultural organisation Samskritiki in their series of programmes Aasara. Popular anchor Milan played the host during the concert.

Odisha Dance Academy, under the aegis of Odisha tourism department announced the Dhauli Kalinga Mahotsav to be hosted at the foothills of Dhauli, said Aruna Mohanty who heads the Odisha Dance Academy.

Odia flautist Srinibas Satapathy, Odissi by Utkal Sangeet Mahavidyalya troupe, Dona Ganguly’s troupe from Calcutta and host Odisha Dance Academy along with Bharatnatyam by Bhanumati Devi from Bangalore and Kathak by Rajashree Shirke of Mumbai will be performing at the festival in the classical dance and music segment as part of the Dhauli festival.

The Kalinga Mahotsav that started simultaneously in 2003 exclusively for martial dance forms and merged with Dhauli fest since 2012, will showcase Manipur martial dance Thang Ta by Priti Patel of Calcutta, Raibansee dance of Bengal by Tarun Pradhan of Midnapore and Mallakhamb by Fate Fighter troupe from Puri.

“We wish that the martial dance fest gets a separate venue at a heritage site so that these dance forms get highlighted,” said Kalinga Mahotsav founder Illeana Citaristi.