Bangalore: The 6th edition of Nrutyadhara Festival, organised by Nrutyadhara Foundation, a premier dance institution in Bangalore set up by Smt Prajna Paromita Mishra, was recently held at ADA Rangamandira in Bangalore.
From this year, Nrutyadhara started presenting Nrutyadhara Samman.
After the customary lighting the lamp ceremony, attended by Dr AV Satyanarayan, the felicitation ceremony started. The first Nrutyadhara Samman was conferred upon noted Odissi dancer Guru Subash Chandra Swain. Worth mentioning, Smt Mishra is the disciple of Guru Subash Chandra Swain.
Swain, who completed his B Mus from Utkal Sangeet Mahavidyalaya, Bhubaneswar, has the opportunity to hon his skill under the direct supervision of Guru Kelucharan Mohapatra. He established his own institution in 1993-94. So far, he alongwith his disciples has participated in prestigious festivals across the country and in abroad as well.
The cultural evening commenced with ‘Devi Stuti’ by five senior disciples of Guru Prajna Paromita Mishra.
In this item, the dancers paid obeisance to five goddesses namely Durga, Kali, Laxmi, Saraswati and Parvati and their distinctive aspects.
Choreographed by Guru Subash Chandra Swain, music composed by Vikash Shukla and rythym composition by Satchitananda Das, the item makes tremendous demands of performers and the dancers of Nrutyadhara came up to the expectations.
The following presentation was an abhinaya choreographed by legendary Guru Kelucharan Mohapatra, ‘Kede Chhanda…’, presented by Shriyadita Nanda Kumar. Her amazing lyrical body movements, excellent facial and eye expressions should be seen to be believed.
The next item was a Pallavi, ‘Bajrakanti Pallavi’, choreographed by Guru Subash Chandra Swain, presented by Saanvi Pattanayak.
It was the six junior dancers of Nrutyadhara Foundation who took the stage by storm. They presented ‘Aa re bai chadhei aa…’. Kudos to Guru Prajna Paromita Mishra for the training imparted to her disciples.
The festival had still more to offer to the packed audience. A Kathak recital by Sanchita Lahoti, founder of Dhamar dance Institute, Bangalore and an Andhra Natyam by the artistes of Diksoochi Natyalaya, Bangalore were a treat to both trained and untrained eyes.
In the concluding segment, artistes of Nrutyangana, an Odissi dance institution founded by Guru Subash Chandra Swain performed three items, adding value to the festival.
They commenced their presentation with an invocation to Lord Shiva, ‘Shivapanchak’. The well trained dancers left the audience glued to their seats. The item, based on raga Patdeep and tala Tripata was choreographed by Guru Gangadhar Pradhan and music composed by Sangeet Sudhakar Balakrushna Dash.
They followed it up with an abhinaya ‘Ahe nila saila’, based on raga Arabi and tala Jati, choreographed by legendary Guru Kelucharan Mohapatra, music composed by Pandit Bhubaneswar Mishra.
The concluding item of the evening was a ‘Moksha’. With their body kinetic, sculpturesque body movements and outstanding stage management, they left an indelible mark on the audience, including this reviewer.
Photo courtesy: Nrutyadhara
