`I dance for joy not awards'
SHYAMAHARI CHAKRA
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The Sangeet Natak Akademi award sits lightly on Odissi maestro.
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Surendra Nath Jena
When octogenarian Odissi maestro Surendra Nath Jena was named as the winner of this year's Sangeet Natak Akademi award, he said, "I never hankered for awards and honours. I have enough of them. I am proud that Kapila Vatsayana, Yamini Krishnamurthy, Ranjana Gauhar and Rekha Tandon were my disciples besides scores of students in India and abroad. I am also proud that three of my daughters are dancers. These are my real rewards." And he adds with an outburst of laughter, "I danced for joy and I will die happily that I have been able to dance throughout my life. God has been kind to me and dance has given everything that I deserve."
What makes Surendra Nath'style so special after all? His compositions inculcate all three aspects of Hindu religion - Vaishnavism, Saivism and Tantrism. As he was deeply inspired by the temple sculpture of Orissa and the ordinary people's movements, his dance choreographies often show poses with the body balanced on one leg. Sculptures are rendered into body movements in his dance. Unlike the other great gurus, he did not subscribe to idea of dance dramas. He favoured and successfully explored solos in stead to narrate the stories. And in his abhinaya compositions, one comes across extensive use of two rasas - roudra and vivasta. Like late Debaprasad, Surendra Nath did not believe in projecting Odissi as a predominately feminine form and he harmoniously combined lasya and tandav elements in all his compositions. His works were often found entrenched in bhakti rasa as well with emphasis on lokadharmi sentiments. "In my dance, bhava is the most important aspect," he explains. The guru who has spent a major part of his formative years in Orissa in the jatra folk theatre groups is also an adept music composer that makes him stand apart.
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