Bhubaneswar: The second evening of Guru Kelucharan Mohapatra Award Festival commenced with a Bharatanatyam recital by dancer Shri P. Praveen Kumar from Bengaluru.
Accomplished Bharatanatyam artiste, Nattuvanar, choreographer, and founder of Chithkala School of Dance in Bengaluru, Shri P. Praveen Kumar presented Aditya Hridayam, a hymn in glorification of the Sun followed by a powerful rendition of a Jathiswaram or a technical dance piece, set to Raga Abhogi and Adi Talam composed by Shri Kameshwaran and choreographed by Guru Narmada.
His concluding item was Devaranama, composed by Saint Purandara Dasa, and set to traditional music. In Raga Malika and Adi Tala, Shri P. Praveen Kumar presented his own choreography, eulogizing Lord Krishna in two different episodes, where Lord Krishna’s mother beholds the entire universe in his mouth, and where Lord Vishnu asks a kind and benevolent, yet egoistic King for three feet of land.
In his presentations, while Raghuram, D. S. Srivatsa, and Manasi Prasad lent him a good support on vocals, Lingaraju and S.V. Balakrishna, Mahesh Swamy and Manjula and Chitra Lingam on the Mridangam, the flute and the Veena respectively.
The second item of the evening was a Mardala recital by one of Odisha’s senior-most Mardala exponents, Guru Dhaneswar Swain. He presented compositions in Adi Tala, set to 16 beats. He was accompanied by Muralidhara Swain on the Harmonium and Barsha Rani Swain on the Tanpura.
By kalasanskruti
