Bhubaneswar, Aug. 14: Young Odissi dancers performed at a concert organised by the Guru Kelucharan Mohapatra Odissi Research Centre at Rabindra Mandap on Friday.

The event featured dancers under the age of 20, who had excelled themselves in rending their skills.

The best disciples of seven dance gurus performed solo items at the event. While young danseuse Subhalakshmi Padhi, a disciple of Arati Kar, regaled the viewers with her graceful moves, 11-year-old Anisha Sinha, the youngest to perform at the concert, won many hearts. Anisha, a gifted student of dancer Durga Charan Ranbir, presented her rendition in the Debaprasad Das gharana style.

Preetisha Mohapatra, trained by Ratikant Mohapatra and Tulika Tripathy, a disciple of veteran danseuse Kumkum Mohanty, presented recitals based on abhinaya. Students of dancers Aruna Mohanty, Niranjan Rout and Meera Das also performed at the event.

“It was amazing to watch young Odissi dancers performing with such ease. It shows that the Odissi dance has a brilliant future ahead. However, while the dance was promoted and made popular by male dancers, we saw Rudraprasad Swain as the only male performer today,” said Ananta Charan, a viewer.

“All the artistes performed solo recitals to showcase their skills. The event aimed to encourage the younger generation artistes to perform on stage,” said vocalist Sangita Gosain, an official of the research centre.