Dancing to a different beat
SHYAMHARI CHAKRA
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A rarely performed dance drama shows that all’s well with the world.
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Photo: Ashoke Chakrabarty
Refreshing experience Artistes presenting `Gitinatya’.
For the connoisseurs of culture in Bhubaneswar, it was a refreshing experience last week to witness the typical and marginalised getinatya (dance drama) of the state. At Rabindra Mandap, the cultural hub of the city, Gopal Dash Mem
orial Cultural Organisation of Orissa’s coastal district of Kendrapara presented geetinatya titled Jayadev that revolved round the life and times of the 12th century saint poet of Orissa whose classic creation Geet Govind has had
incredible impact on the Indian performing arts scene down the centuries.
Geetinatya, that harmoniously incorporates elements of dance, drama and songs accompanied by traditional musical instruments of Orissa, flourished in Kendrapara region and late Gopal Dash, after whom the cultural organisation has been named, was a pioneer of the form that enjoyed mass appeal. The narratives are usually weaved around mythological and historical plots.
Despite lack of patronage, the organisation has been religiously keeping alive the genre over the past two decades and as a result it has been enacted in several major festivals. One of the four major productions of the organisation, "Jayadev", the dance drama, spans over two and half hours though it was edited to an hour’s duration for the city audience. Keeping with the simplicity of story telling, the drama unfolds with young Jayadev deciding to take a pilgrimage from his village Kenduli to Lord Jagannath’s Puri to compose the immortal "Geet Govind". In the next scene, his would-be wife Padmavati, dancer and his fountainhead of inspiration, also moves with her parents to Puri and they get married en route. The narration then moves to the stories behind the compositions of various cantos of Geet Govind to end with the scene where the Lord himself appears at the end of the composition and blesses the couple.
The brief but impressive presentation of the drama has added two imaginary characters - a businessman who tries to cheat Jayadev but repents later on and his daughter - to add credibility to the narration for the common man.
While Nagen Parija directed the drama, noted Odissi singer Rabindranath Mishra’s soul stirring music and singing added the much desired flavour.
With grace and grandeur, actor Ajit Mohapatra did justice to the character of Jayadev while Rojalin Panda in the dual role of an actor and a singer was impressive.
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