The Srjan will celebrate 25th year of the Guru Kelucharan Mohapatra Award Festival at the Rabindra Mandap here for seven days from September 5 to 11 in a grand way and honour five personalities in senior level and five in youth segment, informed Srjan director Guru Ratikant Mohapatra at a Press meet here on Monday.
In the senior segment, the award called the “Nalco Guru Kelucharan Mohapatra Award 2019" would be presented to Tabla maestro Guru Harmohan Khuntia, veteran Odissi dance Guru Durga Charan Ranbir, eminent dance critics and authors Dr Sunil Kothari and Leela Venkataraman and renowned art photographer Avinash Pasricha.
Each of these eminent personalities would be given a cash award of Rs 1,00,000 and a citation.
In the youth segment (under 40-year age), the award is known as the “Nalco Guru Kelucharan Mohapatra Yuva Prativa Samman 2019” and it would be given to Swapnokalpa Dasgupta, Rahul Acharya and Rajashri Praharaj for Odissi dance, Anwesa Mahanta for Sattriya dance and Satyabrata Katha for Odissi music. Each of the artistes would be given a cash prize of Rs 25,000 each and a citation.
“We are hosting a seven-day festival to celebrate the 25 th yr of the award festival in place of the annual five-day event. The Srjan has curated this year's festival with a range of music recitals featuring world renowned artistes, with a special evening highlighting Odissi music,” informed Mohapatra. The festival would feature a special solo recital by Niharika Mohanty, senior disciple of Guru Kelucharan Mohapatra, Odissi exponent and founder-director of Guru Shradha, California, USA.
After the GKCM Award presentation on September 11, the Srjan dance ensemble would present the production 'Namami Gange' choreographed by Guru Ratikant Mohapatra, scripted by Pandit Nityananda Mishra, and set to Lakshmikant Palit's music, said Mohapatra.
Bearing a strong social and environmental message, 'Namami Gange' is a production in the neo-classical style of Odissi, appealing to the people of our nation to respect Mother Ganga, and bring her back to her purest form, said Mohapatra.