Rare cultural treat
|
An evening dedicated to Odissi music and dance is on tomorrow
|
Talented duo Bijay Kumar Jena and (below) Nazia Alam will first perform solo and then conclude with a duet
The Orissa Cultural Association, Bangalore, will present an evening dedicated to Odissi music and dance. The event will be held at Chowdiah Memorial Hall, on July 4, at 7 p.m.
The evening will feature an Odissi dance recital by Sujata Mohapatra, the daughter-in-law of the late guru Kelu Charan Mohapatra. She will be accompanied by her husband Ratikanat Mohapatra, on the pakhwaj and by musicians Bijay Kumar Jena and Nazia Alam.
Before the dance it will be Odissi music that will enthral the audience, where Bijay Kumar Jena and Nazia Alam will perform. They will first perform solo and then conclude their concert with a duet.
“Odissi music has its own distinctive appeal, it has all the qualities to get into the league of Hindustani or Carnatic music,” explains Bijay Jena. He is also the head of Odissi Vocal at Utkal Sangeet Mahavidyalaya, where he teaches music.
“We have a lot of music with khayals and pure raga too. Like ghazals we have the bhajans. This kind of music did not get the right platform or exposure. People are now gradually opening up to it. In Bangalore we will present some bits from the Gita Gobind and some pure Odissi music,” he says. Bijay has accompanied some of the most acclaimed Odissi dancers as a singer. Some of whom include the late Kelucharan Mohapatra, Illiana Citaristi and Jhelum Paranjpae.
“I have performed with Kelu babu for over 10 years. Music is also a very important aspect of dance. Singing solo is very satisfying as an artiste. However, when you sing for a dancer there has to be perfect co-ordinations. In dance, a verse is sometimes repeated 12 to 14 times and each time you have sing it differently.
One has to try and make one’s voice add life to the dancer’s moves. These are some of the challenges one faces when singing for a dancer,” explains Bijay.
Nazia agrees with Bijay saying Odissi music is completely traditional. “Though it shares a lot of similarities with Indian classical music, it is very different in its style,” says this youngster who is a trained Hindustani singer and has performed at major festivals in India and abroad.
She too has accompanied dancers like Gangadhar Pradhan and Aruna Mohanty as a singer and also has released CDs. Their concert will be followed by an Odissi dance recital.
Tickets for the show will be available at K.C. Das (Church Street), Music World (C.M.H. Road), Odyssey (R.T. Nagar), Calypso (Jayanagara) and Jagannath Temple (Sarjapur Road). For online bookings log on to Online@www.indianstage.in. For home delivery call 98800-36611.
S.S.R
Printer friendly
page
Send this article to Friends by
E-Mail
Friday Review
Bangalore
Chennai and Tamil Nadu
Delhi
Hyderabad
Thiruvananthapuram
