Pure nritta
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Mukteswar Dance Festival was Odissi of diverse styles at the heritage site.
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BODY LANGUAGE Durga Charan Ranveer's dance exposition at the festival.
It was joy two-fold in Bhubaneswar at the ornate Mukteswar Temple complex. The four-day dance festival at the heritage site of all the epoch-making gurus. Hence though Pankaj Charan Das, Kelucharana Mohapatra and Deba Prasad Das, who infused life into modern Odissi dance are all dead, they came out alive at the festival held by Orissa Tourism Department, January 12-15.
It was Odissi of diverse styles at one place. Direct disciples of the maestros either performed or directed and presented the Guru trio's dance choreography.
The very opening item on the inaugural evening was a Pankaj Charan choreographed piece, Om namah Shiva directed by his disciple Sneha Prabha Samantry who teaches in the State-run institute Utkal Sangeeta Mahavidyalaya. Twenty-one dancing artistes, both males and females presented the theme: the varied attributes of Lord Shiva, the preserver and destroyer of the creation. It was a real delight to watch.
Each evening on all the four days there were dance recitals by well-known or upcoming artistes and hence Gangadhar Pradhan, Durga Charan Ranveer, Sharon Lowen, Geet Mahalik, Sangeeta Das, Ileana Citaristi, Sujata Mohapatra, among others, werefeatured. Hence it was altogether on impressive fare for connoisseurs and art critics. This was also an opportunity to compare and contrast the individual approach of the erstwhile gurus to a single theme, especially a particular song. An astapadi from Jayadev's Geeta Govinda `Pasyati dishi dishi' were presented by Sharon Lowen (choreograped by Kelucharan) and Sangeeta Das (choreographed by Deba Prasad). While both excelled, Sharon's performance was more punctuated by pure dance parts than Sangeeta's presentation. Similarly Sujata Mohapatra danced an expressive item based on Banamali's song Kete chhanda jane go sahi, which mirrored young Sri Krishna's doings. While Kelucharan's choreography from which the danseuse danced was more lyrical, Deba Prasada's composition was more dramatic, with greater stress on character portrayal.The presentation was joyful as well as enlightening.
The Mukteswar Festival was memorable for more than one reason: the cluster of stone temples, among them Mukteswar standing out in sculptural magnificence, formed an impressive backdrop and added to the delight.
S.C.
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