The five-day-long International Odishi Dance Festival-2016 in the city came to an end on Friday. A good amalgamation of senior and junior artists in both the afternoon and evening sessions provided a good source of entertainment.
Students of the Kala Vikash Kendra, Cuttack gave a befitting start by a group presentation. They took to the stage “Durga Tandav” set to raag Patdeep and taal Ektali and Tipata. Guru Gajendra Panda’s choreography in this item was indeed a visual delight.
The following item was a solo recital by Vishnu Tatwa Das from the USA. Vishnu came alive on the stage with his presentation, an abhinaya “Kapi Madhuripuna..”, highly appreciated choreography by Padmabibhushan Guru Kelu Charan Mahapatra.
The next item was by Sreepunya Mohanty who presented an abhinaya “Kahiba Ku laja…” The svelte dancer of Odisha Dance Academy, Bhubaneswar, scored high complements for her wonderful presentation. Namita Ray from Cuttack brought an abhinaya “Sajani ki laje Sarili…” In a duet recital, Mahasweta and Manikarnika of Bhubaneswar presented “Charukeshi Pallavi”. Rudra Prasad Swain, a disciple of Guru Aruna Mohanty, gave an abhinaya “Ashwatthama”. The dancing met with all the requirements like stamina and dramatic flair.
Sagarika Parida of Bhubaneswar came next with an abhinaya “Ki sobha go kunje….” She beautifully essayed how the sakhis are delighted seeing Radha Krishna in kunjabana. Sarbani Nandi from Tripura was brilliant in her nrutyabhinaya “ Pancha Bhuta”. Trilochan Sahoo, a disciple of noted dancer Sujata Mahapatra, took an abhinaya “Srita kamala…” on to the stage. “Kuru Yadu Nandan…” was the penultimate item of the evening that was presented by Gayatri Khuntia. The concluding item was a group presentation “Ganesh Tandav and Bihag Pallavi” by the students of Puspita Mukharjee.
The afternoon session witnessed solo presentation by Mahashweta Gayen and Yamini Jena, both were from the USA. Other solo performers were Sonakshi Mishra (Bhubaneswar), Shivani Wazir Pasrich(New Delhi), Arunima Acharya (Bhubaneswar). The only duet was by Bhagat Pradhan and Vinita Baliarsingh of Bhubaneswar.