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Dance exponent left in the lurch

BHUBANESWAR: Be it internationally acclaimed sand sculptor Sudarsan Patnaik, mountaineer Kalpana Dash who scaled Mount Everest or Indian women’s hockey skipper Jyoti Sunita Kulu, Orissa Government has a track record of neglecting the talents who do the State proud. And the latest in the list of the victims has been accomplished Mahari dancer Rupashri Mohapatra.

The Puri-based dancer, daughter of a priest of the Jagannath temple, is known as a pioneer of the revived ritualistic Mahari dance – the dance of the devdasis of the Puri temple.

Disciple of late Padma Shri Pankaj Charan Das, the founder father of Odissi dance who revived the Mahari dance style that was discontinued since 1965, Rupashri, now in her late 30’s, has been performing, teaching and choreographing Mahari dance relentlessly for more than a decade. She has also groomed several budding Mahari dancers in Puri, Cuttack and Bhubaneswar in recent years.

Winner of the prestigious Mahari Award, this Odissi dancer turned Mahari exponent has so far been invited to perform in the international Odissi festivals held in US and Bhubaneswar, Uday Sankar dance festival organized by West Bengal Government and in a major dance event in Mumbai.

However, ironically enough, Rupashri and Mahari dance are yet to find any patronage from Orissa Government.

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