Bhubaneswar: To commemorate the 21st death anniversary of legendary Odissi dancer Guru Kelucharan Mohapatra, Art Vision, one of the premier Odissi dance institutions in India established by Ileana Citaristi, organised ‘Remembering Guruji’ at Rabindra Mandap here on Monday.
The evening was inaugurated by author, poet, lyricist, academic and administrator Devdas Chhotray. On this occasion, Odia version of Ileana’s book ‘The Making of a Guru; Kelucharan Mohapatra, his Life and Times’, translated by Somesh Mohapatra and published by Anubad Sahitya Parishad Trust, was released. Granddaughter of the maestro, Preetisha Mohapatra read out his father Ratikant Mohapatra’s message.
The evening witnessed the guruji’s three senior disciples performing his compositions.
Guru Dr Manoranjan Pradhan performed ‘Ahe Nilasaila’, an abhinaya set to Raga Aaravi and Tala Jati, music composed by Pandit Raghunath Panigrahi and Pandit Bhubaneswar Mishra. Guruji composed this item in early 70s for late Sanjukta Panigrahi. Dr Pradhan, who along with his wife Minati Pradhan runs an Odissi dance institution ‘Sriradha Kalakunja Trust’ and organises a dance festival ‘Kalakunja Festival’, was excellent in delivering justice to the guruji’s composition.
The second performer of the evening was Ileana Citaristi who presented ‘Navarasa’, which was composed by guruji in 1990 for her. Its music was composed by Pandit Bhubaneswar Mishra. It’s a wonderful experience to see Citaristi, a Padma Shri recipient who is running an Odissi dance institution ‘Art Vision’ in Bhubaneswar, exploring the nine emotions so brilliantly.
Next, eminent Odissi dancer Nandini Ghoshal from West Bengal came onto the stage to present ‘Khambaj Pallavi’, choreographed by guruji for late Sanjukta Panigrahi and Kumkum Lal in 1979.
Her nuanced expressions and body movements with perfect mudras left the art lovers captivated.
Besides being a Top-grade Odissi dancer of Doordarshan, Ghoshal is also an accomplished cine actress. Her films are ‘Char Adhyay’(Hindi), directed by Kumar Shahani, ‘Kichchu Sanglap Kichchu Prolap (Bengali), Byatikrami (Bengali), both directed by Ashoke Viswanathan, ‘Akeli’ (Hindi) by Vinod Pandey and ‘Sthhithi’ (Malayalam) by R Sarath.
The three dancers also presented one of their own compositions. While Citaristi performed ‘Sabda Swara Pallavi’, set to Raga Krushna Kedara, music composed by Guru Gopal Chandra Panda and Ramesh Chandra Das and rhythm by Soumya Mohanty, Ghoshal presented ‘Surya’, written by Adi Shankaracharya and music composed by Debashis Sarkar.
Dr Pradhan’s performance was a Mangalacharan ‘Ganesh Vandana’, set to Raga Malika and Tala Ektali, music composed by Guru Sukanta Kumar Kundu and rhythm composed by Guru Dhaneswar Swain.
Veteran Odissi singer Sangeeta Gosain was the emcee of the evening.
