Girls from a Bhubaneswar-based orphanage, who will perform Odissi in three cities of the US, assembled at Biju Patnaik Airport before their departure on Friday morning. They will stay in the US for two weeks and perform in New York on July 1 and 2, Chicago on July 6 and Seattle on July 9 before returning to Odisha on July 12. Amrita, 14, Anjali, 15, Spandita 16, Pranati 16, Jyotsnarani 18, and Purnima 20 were mere toddlers when their parents died or they were simply abandoned. They found shelter at Adruta Children Home at Kantabada located on the outskirts of Bhubaneswar, where they learnt classical and folk-dance forms while simultaneously doing well in academics. The girls have performed in Mumbai, Calcutta and Delhi representing the Adruta Dance Troupe. The Odisha Society of America has invited them to perform on the occasion of their 44th convention. Superintendent of the centre Sagarika Mishra, whom the girls fondly call ‘Mummy’, founder of the centre A.K. Mohanty and choreographer Bharat Charan Giri will accompany them to the US. The girls, who have been training in Odissi for the past 12 years, have prepared a special repertoire that includes Dasaavatar and Krishna Leela. The act is replete with pallavi (pure dance) and abhinaya (dance drama) movements. They are excited about their expedition. “We always complete our academic assignments in advance, so that we can concentrate on dancing whole-heartedly. Our dance teacher is a strict disciplinarian and for us Odissi is our first love. We have told everyone in our school and our friends are so happy for us,” said Anjali, a Class X student. While other girls are still in school, Purnima, the eldest among them, has taken up dance as her profession and teaches at a private school. Text: Pratyush Patra, Telegraph pictures