Aloka Kanungo, a brilliant Odissi dancer and a senior student of Guru Kelucharan Mahapatra, organized a three-day Odissi dance festival at Rabindra Sadan and Kalamandir. The festival, presented by her institution, Shinjan Nrityalaya, featured renowned Odissi dancers from various cities along with Kanungo's students. It is difficult to organize a classical dance show in present times; this show, thus, was a praiseworthy project highlighting the rich heritage of Indian classical dance. It was disheartening to see the dismal turnout in the audience.
The programme commenced with a solo performance by the exquisite dancer, Sujata Mahapatra, who is Kelucharan Mahapatra's daughter-in-law. Her first item was Vakratunda mahakaya, the mangalacharan, choreographed by Ratikant Mahapatra. Sujata's movements were precise and her bhramaris were smooth. Her entire repertoire was controlled and perfect. Kaberi Sen was the evening's second performer. Next was Shakti, an enjoyable choreographed presentation by the students of Shinjan Nrityalaya. The music was composed by Ramahari Das.
The artists performing the next evening were Rahul Acharya (picture), Sriparna Bose, and the duo from Bhopal, Kalyani and Vaidehi Phagre. The evening concluded with the performance of Kumkum Mohanty's troupe. Acharya's performance possessed a clean, divine character. The rhythmic number, Sthayi, displayed his mastery over the technical aspects of dance, while Ashta Sambhu, a wonderful choreography by Deba Prasad Das, depicted his force, artistry, precision and sublime emotions. It was a rare, soothing experience to watch him dance.
Sriparna Bose chose " Kahin gale murali phunka", an abhinaya number, for her recital. The duet by the Phagre sisters was interrupted by technical glitches. Sharon Lowen, Baishali Kolay, Gajendra Panda and Kaori Naka (duet) and Meera Das and her troupe performed on the last day of the festival.
Shayomita DasGupta, an upcoming Odissi dancer and a student of Ratikant Mahapatra, presented her solo performance at the ICCR. She chose to perform conventional items from the Odissi repertoire, and began with a Ganesh vandana. She moved forward with Pallavi, a pure dance number based on the Raga Hamsadhwani, and proved her mettle. Her abhinaya performance to an Odia song was lively. She was accompanied brilliantly by Ramesh Chandra Das (violin), Srinibas Satpathy (flute), Bijoy Jena (songs), Rajashri Praharaj (manjira) and Ratikant Mahapatra on the mardala.
Bijoya Dutt, in collaboration with the Indian government's ministry of culture, presented Illusion of Reality, a dance-drama based on the freedom of womanhood, at Sujata Sadan. The presentation, created and choreographed by Bijoya Dutt, attempted to depict an issue pertinent to contemporary times through Odissi dance. The participants were Bijoya Dutt, Rajib Bhattacharya, Ranjabali Dey, Shayoree Mukherjee and Trisha Das, among others.
