Bhubaneswar: Odissi Dance Utsav, a three-day, national-level Odissi dance competition organised by Nrutya Naivedya at Bhanja Kala Mandap, concluded Sunday.
The first half of the day was devoted to competitions at which 30 dancers from the sub-junior, junior and senior categories participated. The second half was devoted to performances. The day’s programme commenced with an Odissi solo ‘Shiva Panchaka’, choreographed by Gangadhar Pradhan. It showcased the five incarnations of Lord Shiva — Sadhojat, Namdeva, Tat Pursha, Ghoresh and Ishan. It was followed by Pallavi, in pure Odissi presented by Ribdhita Bhattacharya of Kolkata. The recital was choreographed by Ratikanta Mohapatra.
The next performance was by Subhalaxmi Padhi, ‘Shankaravarana Pallivi’, also pure Odissi choreographed by Pankaj Charan Das.
Then Purnata Mohanty presented ‘Varsavisara’, which depicted the eager wait of parched land for the arrival of rains. The cool drops of the first rain arouse a myriad of sensations. It symbolises new life, regeneration and the thrill and passion of romance. ‘Varsavisara’ was choreographed by Aruna Mohanty.
The final performance of the evening was a group Odissi recital ‘Traai Durga’ presented by students of Nrutya Naivedya. The recital was an offering to Goddesses Durga and was choreographed by Pravat Kumar Swain, who is the founder of Nrutya Naivedya and organiser of the event.
On Saturday, dancers from Mumbai, Bangalore, Kolkata and Delhi had competed at the event. About 110 dancers took part in the sub-junior, junior and senior categories.
Jagyandatta Pradhan presented the final performance of the evening, ‘Joshavara’, showcasing Radha’s wait for her beloved Lord Krishna. When there is no sign of Krishna even after much time has passed, Radha, determined not to give in to Krishna’s mesmerising ways, discards her ornaments and undoes her hair. Bichitrananda Swain choreographed the recital, while Binod Bihari Panda composed music.
The winners in the sub-juniors category were Suvashrita Mahapatra, Nikita Behera, Puniya Pani, Sruya Anuska and Tapasi Kar. Among juniors, Kalyani Mohanty, Anchal Panda, Shaulagna Pati, Tapaswani Mishra, Goel Gita Sahu, Vijayita Rath, Sefali Patnaik, Kritika Mantry, Shreya Mohanty and Srusti Samikshya were named winners. Swanamika Hota, Anjali, Swati Pattnaik, Padmini Sahu and Ranjit Sahoo were winners from the senior category.
Also, Ratikanta Mohapatra was conferred with the Nrutya Naivedya Saman 2018, for his contributions to Odissi dance and music at the event.