News & Notes

Konark Festival 2023

Konark Festival 2023

Konark Festival, held on the open-air stage at Konark with the 13th-century Konark heritage temple in the background, was held in its 37th year in December 2023. The five-day festival, held between 1-5 December, showcased Bharatanatyam, Kuchipudi, Sattriya, Mohini Attam and Kathak, besides Odisha's own Odissi dance.

Artistic Director of Soor Mandir, Odissi dancer Jyotsna Rani Sahoo, and her group inaugurated the festival with the Soorya mantra. Saranam, which followed, portrayed surrender to the all-powerful lord Krishna, emphasising Krishna's role as the saviour, as depicted by the Bhagvat Gita. The dance depicted the stories of Vishnu's incarnation as Krishna, highlighting the message of taking refuge in the Lord as described in the mythological stories.

Delhi-based Utsav Educational and Cultural Society's Artistic Director Ranjana Gauhar, an Odissi dancer and teacher trained under guru Mayadhar Raut and Aloka Paniker, presented Shaksatkar, which meant manifestation of the divine. The sloka interpreted the Hindu belief that Nataraja, the supreme dancer, brought the universe into existence.

It was the reiteration of our collective belief. The aim of creating an aesthetic experience centring around this belief would call for a performer in the role of Nataraja with perfected postures to make it a thing of wonder and awe, which the co-female dancers emoted beautifully.The ambience, the music and the apsaras on stage made up for the flaw. Radha Rani and Rasa Rang highlighted Krishna's eternal love for the gopis of Vrindavan. The sthayi rasa of the two pieces were sringara, with all other rasas making brief peeps as the stories of Krishna love for the gopis unfolded.

Rojalyn Mohapatra and her group from her Bhubaneswar-based institute, Debadasi, praised Goddess Saraswati through her learnt vocabulary of her gurus - Gangadhar Pradhan, Manoranjan Pradhan and Aruna Mohanty. The piece,  Juge Juge Jagannath was self-explanatory, facilitated a cohesive performance, and at times contained sympathetically attuned musical cues focused on cohesive rather than creative issues.  Janasammohini pallavi was a pure dance piece that provided a glimpse of her learnt style mingled with her own choreographic skills.

Daksha Mashruwala, a product of the Kelucharan Mohapatra genre of Odissi, presented his choreographies, 'Ragmala' and Jog pallavi', which were involved. The joy of pure dance movements permeated to the audience, who savoured each bit. Kavi Babamali Das Prana Sangini Re is an all-time favourite, and the students left no stone unturned to ensure the subtlety of expressions. Daksha and her senior disciple Namrata Mehta's secular-themed choreographic work to a composition of Jatin Sahoo, with the rhythm taken care of by Rohan Dahale. Roshini -in search of light within was about a rare theme, leaving a lasting impression.

On the fifth and final day of the prestigious Konark Festival, Geeta Govinda Charitable Trust, under the aegis of Kumkum Mohanty, responsible for the establishment of Odissi Research Centre, performed three pieces, all of which had been solely composed and choreographed for her by her guru Kelucharan Mohapatra, in 1979. Her students performed abhinaya -Maa Bhavani mancha pooja and pallavi in raga Hamsadhwani. However, the lack of practice hampered the savouring of their flavour. Still, it was indeed amazing to see septuagenarian Kumkum Mohanty in the role of Sita from Bichitra  Ramayana by Biswanath Khuntia.

She performed solo on the expansive two-tiered proscenium stage of Konark. Her dance was captivating, showcasing her mastery of abhinaya. However, the diverse audience, comprising foreign and local tourists—individuals not necessarily well-versed in the arts—were not fully attuned to the nuances.

Bengaluru-based Bharatanatyam dancer Praveen Kumar, Artistic Director of Chitkala School of Dance, and his well-trained disciples created an aura. He commenced his performance with Surya Namaskar and moved on to jatiswaram, making full use of the stage with the strong and vibrant yet graceful nritta elements of Bharatanatyam. Sivanjali explored the form and the non-form of the cosmic dancer Siva. Mythological stories retold can achieve their goal with a powerful and appealing language, and here, the dance was rendered perfectly. The Nataraja poses breaking into graceful vocabulary resulted in aesthetic joy.

Kuchipudi Dance Academy of guru Jaya Rama Rao, from Delhi, presented his group in Omkaram, concentrating on the sacred sound of the Om mantra, which represents Brahman or absolute reality for salvation, a difficult concept to choreograph. His group rendered the piece in the pristine and inimitable style, moulded from the Bhagavata Mela Natakam by guru Jayarama Rao. 'Dasavataram' from Jayadeva's Gita Govinda and Durga tarangam, a composition of Yati Narayana Tirtha concluded his recital. Dasavataram, in Kuchipudi style, depicted all the nine rasas. In the Durga tarangam, the difference between veera rasa and roudra rasa was well defined.

Kalpavriksha Dance Ensemble's Artistic Director Anwesha Mahanta and her group presented the devotional piece Param Leela, which relates myths from ancient texts in a pure Sattriya dance style. 'Raga Reponi', an orchestral performance and Chali Radani,  an invocation to lord Jagannatha to a composition of medieval bhakti saint Srimanta Sankaradeva, effectively created an ambience of sublime joy covering space and time. Through 'prakriti and purusha', Anwesha Mahanta and the group explored the theme of divine love transcending ego in a neat and elevating presentation with a verse from the Bhagavata Purana.

The Artistic Director of Lasya Academy of Mohini Attam, Pallavi Krishnan, bowed down to Lord Siva in prayers with her group before presenting her theme-based choreographic stunner Karuna based on a poem in Malayalam by Kumaranashan. The story of Vasavdutta's transformation from a choosy courtesan of great physical beauty and charm to a Buddhist sage Upagupta by his Karuna, a person of great inner beauty, was depicted Pallavi Krishnan and her students with the soft swaying movements that are typical of Mohini Attam. Vasavdutta's enlightenment after her troubled journey, shown through the expression of her eyes, was mesmerising. Pallavi Krishnan is mature in story-telling through the learnt idiom of Mohini Attam.   

Prerna Centre of Performing Arts of Kolkata, under Luna Poddar's direction, marked the end of the Konark Festival of Dance 2023. The lighting, costumes, music and choreography in the Lucknow gharana Kathak dance left an indelible mark on the audience. The 'Soorya jyoti vandana', representing the seven colours of the rainbow and the seven chakras in the body, celebrated the source of creation and wisdom through exquisite Kathak bols and pirouettes covering all corners of the stage. With the piece Darbari named after raga Darbari Kanada, Luna Poddar transported the audience to the royal courts of India. 'Rang Basant' explored the Kathak genius and poet Birju Maharaj, an ardent devotee of Krishna.  Set to the 16-beat Teen taal rhythm, her group celebrated nature and its connected emotions, weaving beauty and joy.

 

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