Ratikant Mohapatra, illustrious son of famous Odishi guru Kelu Charan Mohapatra, has been acting as the unofficial cultural ambassador of India by exhibiting the splendour and the grandeur of Odishi classical dance abroad. As a topnotch dancer with his striking scintillating postures, sculpture-like positions and as a percussionist, teacher, choreographer, archivist, Ratikant is eminently eligible for shouldering the mantle for spearheading neo-classical Odishi to a renaissance of wonder. Awards and accolades came cascading down upon him including prestigious Washington DC award for his valued contribution in Odishi dance in 2003, Sanjukta Panigrahi Samman in 2005 and SKGS Diamond Jubilee Nritya Choodamani in 2014 by Sri Krishna Gana Sabha, Chennai. He created Gunnies Book of World Records through hischoreography with 555 Odishi dancers, a large number of them belonging to foreign countries, performing in unison at the Kalinga Stadium, Bhubaneswar during the International Odishi Dance Festival in 2011. After Guru Kelu Charan's demise, Guru Ratikant has striven to preserve the rich legacy in its pristine purity form and dynamic outreach through Guru Kelucharan Nrutyabasa at Bhubaneswar, which today has emerged as a world-class institute enticing students from all over the globe to master the delicate nuances of this classical dance. In an interview to The Pioneer, Guru Ratikant spoke to Sugyan Choudhury on the past, present and future of Odishi dance.
Would you please throw light on the background of Odishi dance till todayIJ
Odishi dance originated from the cult of lord Jagannath, from Gotipua and Mahari dances. The present Odishi dance form is almost sixty years old since the name "Odishi" was assigned to it after a serious deliberations captioned as "Jayantika". The Jayantika symposium was an assemblage of noted Odishi gurus of the time that continued in three sessions from 1957 to 1960. Gurus like Kelucharan, Pankaj Charan Das, Debaprasad Das, eminent poet Kabichandra Kalicharan Pattnaik and other exponents like Dayanidhi Das, Dhirendranath Pattnaik after threadbare deliberations on the theme decided to give it the name "Odishi". Since then, a proper repertoire for the dance was formed comprising five steps like Mangalacharan, Batu, Pallavi, Abhinaya and Mokshya. Thus, the present dance form is almost sixty years old although it was there in the cult of lord Jagannath from ages past. The gurus then formed their own styles of teaching and performance. Since I belong to Guru Kelu charan Mohapatra's school of teaching, I shall wax eloquently on his style. The other two noted gurus Pankaj Charan Das and Debaprasad Das had different styles. Pankaj Das belonged to the Mahari school of dance. Guru Debaprasad, as far as I know, had his martial training. Hence, we find the presence of martial traits in his dance choreography. In his style, he used to give emphasis on the Abhinaya part.
How would you account for Guru Kelu charan's distinct contribution to Odishi for making it vibrantIJ
Guru Kelu Charan was a multifaceted personality with knowledge in Odishan temple sculptures, palm leaf readings of shastras and the like. He was also a brilliant actor, singer and a percussion player, besides being a painter. All these moulded his personality so much so that in his school of teaching, he has given a new shape and dimension in his compositions and choreography.
Could you narrate the influences that helped blossom the genius of Guru Kelu CharanIJ
Guruji had opened his innings in his artistic career as a Gotipua dancer. Then, he joined Mohanchandra Debagoswami's troupe of Rasaleela at Puri. When the Rasaleela became perfunctory, he left Puri. He came in contact with proprietor of Annapurna Theatre lingaraj Nanda through the advice of Babi, the noted theatre and cinema director. Nanda appointed Guruji to teach acting to the actresses. Nanda discovered that Kelu Charan was a versatile genius and also engaged him as a table accompanist. later, Dayal Saran of the Pandit Udaya Shankar Group arrived to showcase oriental theatre at Annapurna. Saran appointed Kelu Charan, Durlav Singh and others, but they refused to learn on the plea that Kelu Charan should be initiated into the dance form initially and they would learn from him later. They left, but Guruji got glued to Saran, the great maestro, actor, dancer and director. Gguruji had the singular good fortune of learning the intricacies of the stagecraft, light management and choreography from Saran. By the time he left the Annapurna Theatre, Guruji was an accomplished genius in acting, dancing, singing, playing having knowledge in shastras, temple sculptures and architectures and in reading palm leaf inscriptions. The two great gurus who shaped his career are Mohanchandra Goswami and Dayal Saran.
How do you look at the present-day Odishi growingIJ
I have been watching this dance form since 1975 till my father passed away on April 7, 2004. From 1975-1980, the presentation was different. From 1980-1990, it was again different. From 1990-2000, it again evolved. From 2000-2010 and thereafter, it is evolving. When I am teaching, I have to lend my individual talent to the stream of the glorious tradition. Further, I intend to add some more new leaves to the tree left by my father. What he left is like an open dictionary for me and I am trying to add to it. Every passing year, I see this dance form is growing in vigour and vitality.
What would you have been, had you not worn your father's shoesIJ
For 35 long years, 24x7, I have been staying with my father trying to learn all the while. I have had the opportunity and lucrative offers to do something of my own, but I have denied to it. I thought it was my prime duty to stay with my father and my teacher to grasp the delicate nuances and the infinite varieties of style from him. It was indeed a good decision. The result I am getting today.
How do you assess Guru Kelu Charan as a father and as a teacherIJ
He never gave me any special importance in the professional field as his son. I felt as if there were two beings in him. Inside the class, I was one of his disciples, and off the classroom I was his son. He never left any scope for me to complain that he has neglected his duty as a father. He has fulfilled the twin task of a father and a teacher. But for him and his prime disciple Sanjukta Panigrahi, we would not have enjoyed the fame of Odishi dance as we receive today. If Guruji was the flower, Sanjukta was like the perfume displaying the dance worldwide. Today, over 250 countries of the world are learning Odishi.
What's the present position of Odishi danceIJ
The present Odishi dance resembles a huge banyan of a thousand years old, whose roots have gone deep into the soil so that no winds of change can turn a turtle of it. Thinking has changed; styles have changed; old gurus have gone leaving place to new ones. Gone are the days when dancing was a taboo in our society. Today, as I told you earlier, students of over 250 countries are keen on learning the dance.
Do you believe that improvisation can be done within the Odishi dance grammarIJ
Frontline Odishi dancers always perform and do their best within the limits of grammar and time. That's how they reap the best out of it.
What's the special feature of Odishi that takes it apart from other classical dance formsIJ
The movement of limbs and stretching of hands are always either circular or semicircular in Odishi, very much unlike Kathak or Bharatnatyam, where everything is straight and you don't have a sitting posture. That's what lends Odishi a special significance.
What are the ills affecting the Odishi research centreIJ
There are no good teachers, no good administrators. You have to appoint unbiased jury to select good teachers for teaching and good administrators to look after administration separately.
Why has not Odishi song obtained classical tag as yetIJ
When we listen to Hindustani music or Karnataki music, we can distinguish both. Similarly, the distinctive characteristics of Odishi song should be pointed out by our Odishi singers, scholars and musicians so as to take it apart as a classical song from the other two. Who then, you think are the classical Odishi singers to perform this and bring glory to us by achieving the classical tagIJ Who are those singers having in-depth knowledge in sura, tala, laya to do the sameIJ