The Orissa Dance Academy (ODA) presented its new dance production Ashtanayika at the XIMB auditorium here on Thursday.
The evening opened with a dance piece by ten dancers including Guru Aruna Mohanty. They beautifully portrayed the eight types of Nayikas described in the Natya Sashtra.
The abhinaya was designed so brilliantly that the viewers could easily differentiate the classification of nayikas as Vasakasajja, Virahotkathita, Svadhinabhartruka, Kalahantarita, Khandita, Vipralabdha, Proshitabhartruka and Abhisarika.
The dance composition was based on Rasa lila format of Odisha, which was developed in the advent of Vaisnavism cult during Chaitanya Mahaprabhu. Rasa lila is an art form of medieval Odisha. Rasa celebrates nayika’s pain in separation in love, betrayal in love and pleasure in the divine union.
Pandit Bhubaneswar Mishra, Dr Prafulla Kara, Guru Ramahari Das and Dr Subash Pani have the credits for music composition. Guru Aruna Mohanty shared the dance choreography credit with her guru late Gangadhara Pradhan.
Aruna Mohanty, Madhusmita Mohanty, Rojalin Mohapatra, Janhabi Behera, Sridutta Bhol, Puja Jena, Mitali Priya Giri, K Jyotirmayee Pattnaik, Shreepunya Mohanty and Arunima Acharya performed in the evening.
The Union Culture Ministry supported the programme.
