Post News Network
Bhubaneswar, August 24: Noted Odissi exponent Dona Ganguly performed ‘Shakuntala’ along with her dance troupe Diksha Manjari at Rabindra Mandap here Monday. Scores of Odissi dance lovers thronged the auditorium to watch the performance.
Dona was in the city to perform in a programme called ‘Tumari Smrutire’ on the occasion of the 72nd birth anniversary of late Padmashree Sanjukta Panigrahi. The programme was organised by Sanjukta and Raghunath Panigrahi Cultural Heritage Foundation in association with the department of culture and GKCM Odissi Research Centre.
In a first, Dona’s 13-year-old daughter Sana played a pivotal role in the dance performance. Critics in the audience appreciated Sana’s facial expressions and her clean steps, saying she was well on her way to becoming a maestro in Odissi in the future.
“Today, we are performing Shakuntala which will be for a duration of 57 minutes. It has been choreographed by Ratikant Mohapatra. This is for the first time that we are experimenting with Shakuntala in Odissi,” Dona said.
Speaking about her daughter, Dona said Sana has been learning Odissi since the age of five. “Sana loves to dance and has been learning Odissi since she was five years old. Though she has performed in many dance shows with me when she was a child, those were all minor roles. This for the first time that she is playing an important character in today’s performance. I am playing the role of Shakuntala and she is playing the role of Bharat,” Dona said.
“I love dance, and I’ve been regularly learning from my mother. I’m fascinated by Odissi, but I haven’t yet taken a call if I want to pursue it as a profession,” Sana said.