Bengaluru: Kadambari School of Odissi Dance was established by Karishma Ahuja, a young and talented Odissi dancer, in 2017.
Over the years, with her sincere and tender care, it has grown by leaps and bounds and it’s popularity only increasing. Besides it’s Bengaluru main institution, it has also a branch functioning from Chennai. It not only imparts quality training in Odissi dance but also provides a platform for promising artistes.
Doing credit to Karishma and the institution as well, It’s students have performed at many district, state and national level festivals and received awards and accolades at various competitive platforms. It has also a dedicated performing unit ‘Kadambari Dance Ensemble’ which is regularly performing at private, corporate and public events.
Worth mentioning, the quality of it’s annual festival ‘Kadambari Utsav’ is improving every year, making it a favourite event of art connoisseurs.
This year, the festival celebrated its sixth edition which was immaculately organised at Seva Sadan, Malleshwaram. The auditorium was packed with art lovers who were treated to a visual delight by artistes of Kadambari School of Odissi Dance and two guest performers.
After the customary lighting the lamp ceremony attended by guests like JB Saravanan Pillaii, artistic director of Shree Shakthi Arts (temple of dance school) and Satish Suri, an art critic, the well-trained dancers of the institution presented ‘Mangalacharan’, invoking the blessings of Lord Ganesha, the remover of all obstacles. Set to Raga Megh and Kedar and Tala Ektali, the item was choreographed by Guru Kelucharan Mohapatra.
The second presentation was ‘Guru Brahma Guru Vishnu…’, set to Raga Raga Malika and Tala Adi Tala, choreographed by Guru Ratikant Mohapatra.
In the next piece, the students beautifully demonstrated some basic steps of Odissi dance like chauka and mudras. The fourth item was ‘Sthayee’, choreographed by Guru Pankaj Charan Das.
The following item was ‘Nagendra Haraya’ where the dancers narrated various aspects of Lord Shiva, set to Raga Shivaranjini and Tala Rupak, choreographed by Guru Kelucharan Mohapatra.
The next item was ‘Batu’, a pure dance piece offered in honour of Lord Batuka Bhairava, one of the 64 aspects of Lord Shiva. The item was based on Raga Mohana and Tala Ektali and choreographed by Guru Kelucharan Mohapatra.
The next performer was Karishma Ahuja, who presented ‘Durga Stutee’, an invocatory prayer to Goddess Durga, set to Raga Raga Malika and Tala Tala Malika and choreographed by Guru Kelucharan Mohapatra.
The presentation ticked all boxes of a brilliant performance. Be it space management, or body movements, or facial expressions, she was superb.
Next, accomplished Bharatnatyam dancer Dr Poorna Suresh came onto the stage to present a production on Maharani of Mysore, Kempananjammanni, her own choreography. Her nonpareil abhinaya skill left the audience rooted to their seats.
The last item of the evening was by Rajashree Praharaj. She presented ‘Matangi Dhyanam’ and ‘Ahe Nila Saila’, choreographed by Guru Ratikant Mohapatra and Guru Kelucharan Mohapatra respectively.
She instantly stroke a chord with the audience with her mesmerizing performances.
The festival is the brainchild of Karishma Ahuja. Karishma is an artiste trained in Guru Kelucharan Mohapatra style of Odissi dance and a graded artiste of Doordarshan. She is presently undergoing advanced training in Odissi dance under the guidance of Guru Ratikant Mohapatra and Guru Rajashree Praharaj. She has also honed her dancing skills under the watchful eyes of Guru Sharmila Mukerjee.
She has performed at various dance festivals, private, corporate and public events across India and abroad, both as a part of group presentations and soloist.
In 2017, ‘Nritya Kanka Prabha Samman’ was conferred upon her at the International Indian Classical Dance and Music Festival in Bangalore . The ‘Kalamani’ Award in 2019 by the Hosur Natyanjali Foundation and the ‘Taranga Ratna’ Award for Accomplished artistes in 2022. In 2021, she was recognised among top 100 Iconic Artists and Educators of The Year by The Rhythms Group, Mumbai. She also freelances as a performing artiste and dance instructor.
Among the festivals where she has performed are Indian Classical Music and Dance Festival (Taiwan), Chidambaram Natyanjali (Chidambaram), Taj Mahotsav (Agra) and as a part of group performances at G20 India Energy Week (Bangalore), Mysore Dasara (Mysore Palace), Soorya Dance Festival (Trivandrum), National Classical Dance Festival (Chandigarh) and many more. In 2020, she was invited to be a part of ‘Atal Kavya Kala Narthan’, a national level dance production based on the poetries of Atal Bihari Vajpayee, which was premiered on Doordarshan.
