A bhajan in Odissi
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While the performance by Puspita Mishra's troupe was well appreciated, it also had a lesson. A teacher dancing with her students only highlights the stark difference in quality
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Photo: Murali Kumar K.
DEVOUT RENDITION Puspita Mishra and her troupe Kalingayana Touryatrikam paid tribute to Mahatma Gandhi
A specially choreographed tribute in Odissi of the famous bhajan Vaishnava Janato set the mood for the Gandhi Jayanti celebrations organised by the Karnataka Chapter of the Sarvodaya International Trust at Ambedkar Bhavan recently. The evening saw an odissi dance recital by Puspita Mishra and her troupe Kalingayana Touryatrikam from Bhubaneshwar.
The dance recital started off with a rendition of the song Raghupati Raghava Rajaram by Puspita's accompanying musicians. Then it was the turn of the dancer herself to dedicate a dance to the Father of The Nation — a specially choreographed piece Vaishnava Janato, which was a pure abhinaya item.
Puspita's performance was impressive and her dance was well choreographed. But the song, with its repetitive tunes and five stanzas became a bit too long to endure as a starter. It would perhaps have been better if Puspita had begun her recital with a shorter piece to build up the tempo.
But, the second presentation of the concert, Battu, presented by Puspita's students was a welcome relief. Five of her students danced in perfect unison, neatly presenting the group compositions originally choreographed by the late guru Kelucharan Mohapatra. But the girls have a long way to go when it comes to their chowkas and tribhangis. Maybe, if the tempo of the music was slightly slower, the girls could have done better with their torso movements and worked on the pauses, which are an essential part in this sensual dance form.
One could also see the girls staggering when holding on to a sculpted pose, especially those where they had to balance themselves in a bhangi on a single leg.
Then Puspita and her students together presented the final composition — Devi Astakam. The group compositions were, once again, quite impressive. But a teacher should never dance with her students, as the marked difference in the quality of their dance is very striking to the eye.
The dancers could have used a wider space on the stage rather than cover it up with a blue curtain and dance in a crammed manner. The other weak spot of the evening was poor lighting.
Saraswati Majhe, Mita Das, Priyanka Das, Manosmita Dash, Bijaylaxmi Tripathy and Lisa Pradhan were the other dancers. Nemkanth Routray, the singer, could have added more soul into his music. Manas Kumar Sarangi on the mardol was simply brilliant. Jiban Prakash Das on sitar, Bijay Kumar Mohapatra on the flute and Sanjib Kumar Kunda on violin accompanied the artistes.
The event was organised in association with the Indian Council for Cultural Relations, Bangalore Development Authority, Ganjam Nagappa and Sons, State Bank of India, Confederation of Indian Industry and Godrej Group.
SHILPA SEBASTIAN R.
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