Prativa Panda performs at Saheed Bhavan in Cuttack (right) Dona Ganguly and her troupe enacts Chitrangada at Rabindra Mandap in Bhubaneswar. Picture by Badrika Nath Das and Telegraph picture

Bhubaneswar/ Cuttack, July 1: People of the twin-cities had a worthwhile Saturday evening as they were treated to a host of dance, music and dance-drama to mark the 150th birth anniversary of Nobel laureate Rabindranath Tagore.

An Odissi dance-drama based on Tagore’s Nataraj: Ritu Rangashala (theatre of seasons) took centrestage at Saheed Bhavan in Cuttack in which 12 artistes from capital-based dance troupe Nrutya Prativa presented a unique pala gaan (folk song) by dancing to the rhythms of a poem.

Choreographed by Prativa Panda and Sushant Kumar Dash, the dance drama depicted mutual love and unspoken interaction between Nataraj or Lord Shiv and the six seasons — summer, monsoon, autumn, pre-winter, winter and spring. While Nataraj is mesmerised by the unique beauty of the each season, nature admires the lord for his valour and enigmatic tandav nritya.

“Our aim is to popularise Tagore’s work across the lengths and breaths of the state. This was our first performance in Odisha and we would also enact Odissi at four other places — Talcher, Rourkela, Berhampur and Bhubaneswar,” said dancer Prativa Panda.

The audience seemed to be overwhelmed by the splendour and power of the performance. “It was entertaining and we are looking forward to more such events so that the younger generation gets ample opportunity to know more about Tagore’s works,” said homemaker Sujata Mishra, who was a part of the audience.

A similar event organised by Sanjukta and Raghunath Panigrahi Cultural Heritage Foundation was held in the capital on Saturday where Odissi dancer Dona Ganguly and her dance troupe Diksha Manjari from Calcutta presented Tagore’s popular dance-drama Chitrangada.

The performance narrated a romantic epic between Pandav prince Arjun and Manipuri princess Chitrangada. The princess, dressed like a man, spent her time learning the ABC of martial art and armoury.

During one of her practice sessions in the woods, she meets Arjun and instantly falls in love with him. But ashamed of her looks, Chitrangada prays to Lord Kamadev to bless her with beauty that would impress Arjun. Kamadev grants her the wish and the princess manages to attract Arjun’s attention. However, she finally reveals her true identity to Arjun who decides to marry her.

Dancer Dona Ganguly, who portrayed the character of Chitrangada, was impressive and her modern touch to Odissi was appreciated by the audience.

“I must say it was different. I have never seen Odissi of this style but I quite liked it,” said Radhika, who was a part of the audience.