Promising artistes enthral
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The three-day Srujan festival presented a medley of performances.
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Srujan Festival, in memory of Kelucharan Mohapatra.
The legendary Odissi dance guru Kelucharan Mohapatra, who passed away two and half years ago, was remembered in the three-day festival of Srujan (Kalucharan Mohapatra Award 2006) held in Bhubaneswar at Rabindra Mandap. The aesthetic delights for the elite audience were manifold. But we discovered that the best part of the festival was the presence of promising Odissi dancers.
Surprisingly, each promising artiste performed to pieces choreographed by Kelucharan. Judhistira Nayak, for example, perfomed an abhinaya of the late maestro, Ardha-Nariswara. The Indian concept of Andhra-Narwara signifies a philosophic concept: the divinity as half-male and half-female reflects a cosmic vision. The occurrences in the universe are the result of female power. But Kelucharan's choreography, despite not reflecting this philosophic concept, differentiated the attributes of Siva and Parvati. He based his composition Sanskrit slokas and his choreography was a visual treat.
Judhisthtira, in dance idiom, displayed the contrasting attributes of Lord Shiva and Devi Parvati as described in Sanskrit slokas. The contrast is of a wide range: skin colours (molten gold and ashen hue), ornaments (gem-studded gold and snakes), hair (well-combed with a plait and matted hair, jatta) dance (lasys and tandava) etc. The sheer beauty of Judhisthira's dance had a captivating quality, which did justice to Kelucharan's imaginative choreography.
At least two Pallavi items, also performed as solo items by women dancers, delighted connoisseurs. Pallavi is in the nritta category of Odissi. Dancing movements, footwork, hand gestures and facial expression make a veritable tapestry in Pallavi. Since softness is the soul of Pallavi, a tender smile must lightt up the dancer's face. It is a visual delight of the highest order, in accompaniment with Odissi music.
In the Srujan festival danseuse Bijayalakimi Satpathy danced Kirwani Pallavi (Pallavi in the Kirwani raga) and later a Japaneese danseuse Kazuka Yasunoba danced Saberi Pallavi, also choreographed by the late maestro. The choreographic richness of Kelucharan was evident in both: the kaleidoscope of hand gestures and footwork, repeated use of the basic Odissi poses, the trivangi and Chauka at regular intervals, lyrical movements as though reflecting the soul of the ragas concerned enlivened the performances.
Both the dancers displayed a degree of excellence in rendering the items. Of course, aspiring choreographers may also be benefited by observing the items as ideal pieces in nritta style since Kelucharan retained the flavour of Odissi while exploring ragas for the Pallavi items. In this respect, Kelucharan's compositions are a treasure trove.
S.C.
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