STRIKING A POSE: Raseswari Mohanty, winner of the best Odissi dance award in State level dance competition in Bhubaneswar.

BHUBANESWAR: The first edition of the state-level `Naveen Kalakar' Odissi dance festival for young dancers concluded here on Sunday with Bhubaneswar-based Raseswari Mohanty emerging as the best performer in the senior group (18 to 25 years) while Seema Surajita and Debasmita Behera were adjudged the toppers of the junior (12 to 17) and sub junior (6 to 11) groups.

The competitive dance festival that had a number of participants from far off towns of the State was organised by the city-based cultural organisation Devdasi Nrutya Mandir in association with the State Department of Culture and Utkal Sangeet Mahavidya (USM), the premiere college of performing arts of the State, with an objective to spot out hidden talent and provide them patronage to prove their potential.

Culture Minister Surya Narayan Patro, Youth Affairs Minister Debashis Nayak, Orissa Sangeet Natak Akademi president Gangadhar Pradhan, Odissi Research Centre chief executive Ramahari Das, USM principal B.K. Choudhury and culture critic Kedar Mishra launched this annual talent hunt festival at the USM auditorium.

Young talents

Raseswari, a post-graduate student of the Utkal University of Culture and a recipient of the national scholarship from the Ministry of Culture, is a disciple of Pitambar Biswal. Seema Surajita, a product of the well-known dance institution Orissa Dance Academy, is the first year arts student of the B.J.B. Junior College here while 11-year-old Debasmita is being groomed as a budding Odissi dancer at Pitambar Biswal's Surabhi dance institution in the city.

While the three toppers will be offered an opportunity to perform in the forthcoming annual Devdasi national dance festival being hosted by the Devdasi Nrutya Mandir in the capital, A.K.Parija Foundation, founded and funded by non-resident-Oriya A.K.Parija for promotion of Odissi dance worldwide, has announced to present cash prizes for the three winners. The best performers of senior, junior and sub-junior groups will be awarded cash prizes of Rs.10,000, Rs.5,000 and Rs.2,500 respectively every year as the foundation's incentives for new generation dancers in Odissi, Mr. Parija announced.

All other winners of the second and third positions in the festival will be presented certificates and prizes during the Devdasi national dance festival, said host organisation secretary Jagabandhu Jena.

All the participants were issued certificates of participation, he added.

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