The festive spirit has gripped the holy city these days with Ram leelas being staged at various places. To add to the festive charm, classical dance groups are organising shows in the parks and community centres. Simultaneously the city is gearing up to celebrate the four-day festivities of Durga Puja with the customary fervor and devotion
Running under the guidance of classical dance maestro Pt Birju Maharaj, students of Divine School of Dance are preparing for a Victorian period classical dance ballet based on Robert Browning’s poem Pophyria’s lover to be performed on Sunday.
Speaking to The Pioneer, dance director and founder of the school, Madhavi Bhattacharya said, “Divine School of Dance has produced many productions in pure Kathak and other creative styles on several themes like ‘Save Earth’, five elements, Ganga pollution and ‘Swattch Bharat’. This year, our students are performing for Sarvajanin Durga Puja Mandal.”
In the dance ballet, Porphyria is shown as a small girl and Ruma Banerjee would play the lead role, Bhattacharya said. Dwelling on the theme of the well-known poem, she said it focuses on the contradiction prevailing in the society then between the desire for sensations and the moral scruples tending to come in the way of the enjoyment of the sensuous pleasure.
President of Sarvajaneen Durga Puja Utsav Committee B Das said, “This marks the 53rd year of the Durga Puja we are organizing here. We have been making it a point since the inception of the puja to provide the young artists a platform to showcase their talents. We also invite famous artists from Kolkata for Vijay Utsav every year which is held on the day on Dusshera that marks the culmination of the puja.”