Bhubaneswar: Guru Debaprasad Foundation on October 28 presented the seventh edition of Debaprasad Utsav at Jaydev Bhawan in Bhubaneswar. A bouquet of choreographies of legendary Guru Debaprasad Das left art connoisseurs and common audience wanting for more.
The evening was divided into two sessions. While the first session witnessed three solo Odissi dance recitals by young dancers, the second session had award giving ceremony and five items including a Kathakali presentation by Anshuman Gupta, who came from Kolkata.
The first session started with a Mangalacharan ‘Kali Stutee’ by Subhashree Ray, giving a befitting start to the evening. The item based on raga Pahadi and Malkosh, was choreographed by Guru Debaprasad Das and dance direction by Guru Swayampragyan Sahoo. A disciple of Sahoo, Ray’s facial expressions, mudras and stances were excellent. When it comes to space management, it needs an improvement.
Next came Arupa Das, a disciple of Guru Sasmita Mohanty, who presented ‘Basanta Pallavi’, based on raga Basanta and tala Ektali. This young dancer made her guru proud with her impeccable presentation.
The last item of the first session was ‘Ashtasambhu’, presented by young and energetic dancer Satyaprakash Mallik. A disciple of Guru Namita Ray, Mallik’s excellent body kinetic gave an engrossing viewing experience. The item was choreographed by Guru Debaprasad Das, music composed by Guru Gopal Chandra Panda and dance direction by Guru Namita Ray.
The second session started with a customary lighting the lamp ceremony.
Next segment of the session was dedicated to award giving ceremony.
Guru Debaprasad Samman 2022 was presented to noted Odissi dancer Minakshi Behera, eminent violin player Suramani Ramesh Chandra Das and mardal player Niranjan Patra. While Guru Debaprasad Yuva Pratibha Samman 2022 conferred upon Odissi dancer Lingaraj Pradhan and Kathakali dancer Angshuman Gupta, Guru Debaprasad Naba Pratibha Samman 2022 recipients were Satya Prakash, Arupa Das, Khirabdi Tanaya Rout and Subhashree Ray.
Among others, joint director of Culture department cum chief executive of GKCM Odissi Research Center Subodh Chandra Acharya, DGM, Corporate Affairs of Paradeep Phosphate Limited and member of State Women’s Commission Snehanjali Mohanty attended the event as esteemed guests. While they remembered the legendary guru for his contribution to the Odissi world, Bipanchi Das, daughter and disciple of the guru and founder secretary of Guru Debaprasad Das Foundation, reiterated her demand that the government should name a street of the city after the name of the guru.
The second session’s first presentation was ‘Saraswati Stutee’ presented by senior dancers of Guru Debaprasad Das Foundation. The white costumes of all the female dancers (Bhagyashree Das, Ankita Behera, Khirabdi Tanaya Rout, Jyotirmayee Mohanty and Smaranika Padhy) indicated how Bipanchi Das, daughter and disciple of Guru Debaprasad Das, who choreographed the item, takes care of minute details of a presentation. At the end of the recital, thundering applause was a proof of how the presentation touched the hearts of the audience.
The following item was a Kathakali presentation by Angshuman Gupta. His neat presentation of an episode of Mahabharata where Draupadi asks Bhima to bring her Sugandhika flowers stroke chord with the audience.
The next presentation was a duet Odissi dance recital by Mitu Das and Abhipsa Geetanjali Behera. Disciple of Lingaraj Pradhan, they presented ‘Mahakali’. Both the dancers ticked all boxes of a brilliant Odissi dance recital. While the dance was choreographed by Guru Bichitrananda Swain, Pradhan directed it.
It was followed by again a duet Odissi performance by Tubula Kumar and Meenakshi Rani Pradhan, students from Konark Natya Mandap and disciple of Guru Lingaraj Swain. Their presentation was ‘Rageshree Pallavi’, based on raga Rageshree and tala Ektali, choreographed by Guru Gangadhar Pradhan, music composed by Guru Ramhari Das and directed by Guru Lingaraj Swain.
The concluding item of the evening was a group presentation ‘Nabadurga’, presented by the students of Konark Natya Mandap (Meenakshi Rani Pradhan, Archana Muduli, Swetapadma Panda, Lizalini Pradhan, Debasmita Biswal and Subhalaxmi Rout). Stage space management, synchronisation and lyrical body movements of the dancers lifted the presentation to a higher level. All throughout the presentation, the audience remained glued to their seats.
The anchor of the evening was Dr Mrutyunjay Rath.
