Under the auspices of the Tourism and Culture Department, the Odisha Sangeet Natak Academy is organising a three-day- long contemporary dance festival at the Rabindra Mandap here.
The second edition of the festival organised by the academy awakened curiosity and excitement among the art connoisseurs of the city, who thronged the venue to witness something of a different taste, both in terms of dance as well as presentation.
The first presentation of the evening was Beautiful Thing by eminent danseuse Padmini Chettur from Chennai, who displayed different positions of the body using time as powerful strategy in the very dramaturgy of presence exhibiting nine lines in space where the body becomes abstracted over time till the spaces it holds and moves become more present. The second presentation of the evening was Surpanakha presented by Ashavari Majumdar and Group from Kolkata.
In the Valmiki Ramayan, Surpankha is an ugly Rakshasi (devil) , who shamelessly proclaims her lust for Rama. When she is punished, she retaliates by inciting Ravana into abducting Sita.
This production draws on diverse versions from Ramayan to script new perspectives on Surpanakha through her relationships with Ravana, Sita and Rama.
The dignitaries who graced the occasion were Odissi exponent and former Vice Chancellor of Sambalpur University Dr Priyambada Mohanty Hejmadi, Tourism and Culture Principal Secrertary Ashok Kumar Tripathy, Culture Director Susil Kumar Das, Odisha Sangeet Natak Academy president Sarat Pujari, vice president Aruna Mohanty and secretary Chitta Ranjan Mallia. The programme was successfully conducted by Srinivas Ghatuari and Sanghati Pani.