Bhubaneswar: The 9th Odissi International- 2018 which kicked off at Bhanja Kala Mandap here Wednesday would focus on the male Odissi dancers and highlight their spectacular success and growth.
Jointly organised by city-based Samskritiki cultural society in collaboration with several international Odissi dance institutes, the six-day event will be held in Bhubaneswar from December 5 to 7 and in Kolkata from December 19 to 21.
The festival will witness participation from 500 danseuses and delegates from India and abroad.
Festival founder and Director of Samskritiki cultural society Shyamhari Chakra said, “The objective is to unite the ever growing global Odissi family in the land of Odissi once a year and encourage the dancers to discover the cultural roots of the dance tradition.” He added that it further aims at promoting cultural tourism and fostering friendship among people of different countries and cultures through the annual union and celebration in the land of Odissi.
A number of Odissi Gurus like Durga Charan Ranbir, Naba Kishore Mishra, Niranjan Rout, Ratikant Mohapatra, Gajendra Panda, Pitambar Biswal, Bharat Charan Giri and Manoranjan Pradhan will perform in the festival.
Similarly, a number of eminent Odissi exponents of Kolkata will perform in Kolkata festival. Mumbai-based eminent Odissi Guru Debi Base will be honoured with the Odissi International Lifetime Achievement Honour during the festival for her pioneering contribution to Odissi.
The previous recipients of the award have been Guru Durga Charan from Odisha, Guru Ratna Roy from USA and Guru Poushali Mukherjee from Kolkata.
While the festival has been conducted in Bhubaneswar since its launch in 2010, this year it is being extended to Kolkata. The city of Kolkata has contributed the most towards growth of Odissi dance beyond Odisha. Hence, we decided to host the festival in Kolkata in addition to Bhubaneswar, added Shyamhari. From next year onwards, the festival will be hosted as a multi-city event in Bhubaneswar, Bengaluru, Mumbai, Delhi and Kolkata.
The ninth edition of the festival is dedicated to eminent Odissi mardal Guru Banamali Moharana who passed away this year.
Caption
Sanjay Kumar Behera and troupe performing Namami at Bhanja Kala Mandap in Bhubaneswar, Wednesday
