Bhubaneswar: Eminent Odissi dancer Aloka Kanungo was awarded with Guru Samarpan Samman at the 4th Samarpan Samaroh, organised by Nrutyanilaya and Nrutyankita, two pioneer Odissi dance institutions of the state, held at Rabindra Mandap in Bhubaneswar on July 22.
The festival was divided into two sessions – afternoon and evening sessions.
The afternoon session witnessed some scintillating performances by the dancers of Nrutyayan, Nrutya Prativa, Nrutya Upasana Pitha, Shree Dance Academy and Lalit Kala Pitha. Among others, Guru Sushree Anita Singhdeo, Guru Smt Chapala Mishra, Guru Smt Pranati Mohanty and Guru Sukanta Kumar Kundu attended as esteemed guests.
The evening session started with the customary lighting the lamp ceremony, attended by Dillip Routray, Director of Department of Odia Language, Literature and Culture, Govt of Odisha; Arun Kumar Behera, Additional Secretary, Department of Steel and Mines, Govt of Odisha; Prabodh Rath, Secretary of Odisha Sangeet Natak Akademi; Kishore Dwibedi, journalist and chairman of World Odisha Society; Guru Durga Charan Ranbir, eminent Odissi dance guru and SNA and OSNA awardee Mardal Guru Dhaneshwar Swain and Hemant Kumar Dash, retired special secretary to Government of Odisha.
Then the felicitation ceremony began and noted Odissi dancer Aloka Kanungo was felicitated with Guru Samarpan Samman 2023 for her contribution to the field of Odissi dance.
The cultural evening started with ‘Sabda Ranga’, music composed by Guru Sukanta Kumar Kundu, mrudanga by Ajay Choudhary and Mardala by Guru Dhaneshwar Swain and dance choreographed by Swapnarani Sinha, founder of Nrutyanilaya.
Next, Bengaluru based Odissi dancer Sarita Mishra presented an Abhinaya from Astapadi ‘Dheera Sameere Yamuna Tire’. The following item was an Abhinaya ‘Shyama Pherija’ by Dr Ankita Rath, founder of Nrutyankita.
Next, Guru Aloka Kanungo’s disciple Paulami Chakraborty, a Kolkata based Odissi dancer presented ‘Ganesh Vandana’ and ‘Pallavi’. Then, Soumya Bose, a disciple of Guru Sujata Mohapatra presented ‘Ardhanariswara’. Young and talented dancer Sourav Mohanty presented an Abhinaya ‘Priye Charushile’.
The concluding item of the evening was a group presentation from Geeta Govinda, ‘Shrita Kamala Kucha Mandala’ by the well trained dancers of Nrutyankita.
