Confluence of artistic emotion
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The Konark Music and Dance Festival enthralled both performer and audience alike.
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NOT MANY are aware of the fact that the Konark Dance and Music Festival at Arka Vihar, Konark preceded the official Konark Festival organised by the State Government by three years, thanks to the dream, vision and dedication of its founder-director, the eminent Odissi guru, Gangadhar Pradhan.
The festival completed its two decades of existence this February and over the years it has served to be the confluence of folk, classical, tribal even western arts and culture on its beautiful stage at the Konark Natya Mandap set amidst sylvan surroundings.
This year the festival showcased classical dances like Odissi, Kathak and Bharatnatyam besides Sareikala Chhau and Gotipua dance.
As is the tradition every year the festival opened with a Odissi dance recital presented by Guru Gangadhar Pradhan's Orissa Dance Academy.
The Odissi dance ballet `Konark Jagaran' set the mood for the other items that followed - Gotipua dance by the students of the Konark Natya Mandap, the Konark and Kathak group performance `Ghungur' by the Upasana Centre for Dance, Kolkata founded by the dancer-choreographer of repute, Guru Ashimabandhu Bhattacharjee.
The second evening began with an Odissi vocal recital by young and talented Bijay Kumar Jena.
Durga Bor from the U.S. presented an Odissi solo while the `Abartta' troupe of Guru Nabakishore Mishra presented an Odissi group dance `Om Namah Sivaya'.
There was Rani Karna and her students from the `Samskritik Shreyaskar', Kolkata with a Kathak group item `Anek Rang' and a Sareikala Chhau dance performance on this evening too.
The concluding evening of the three-day festival featured an Odissi duet by Leema Bhol and Amulya Balabantray, a Bharatnatyam recital by Charulata Jayaraman from Chennai, an Odissi ballet `Nabarasa' by Daksha Mashruwala and troupe and `Chaiti parab', a folk dance presentation by the Jeypore Kala Kendra founded by Guru Kanhu Charan Pradhan.
Supported by the Eastern Zonal Cultural Centre and Orissa Tourism the 20th Konark Dance and Music Festival also had a two-day `Sahitya Utsav' as one of its highlights.
B.M.
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