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.