Bhubaneswar: ‘Sankshipta Ramayan’ presented by the senior dancers of ‘Tridhara’ on the inaugural evening of the recently concluded 14th Guru Debaprasad Das Award Festival 2020 at Rabindra Mandap here in Odisha remains etched in the memory of this reviewer.
In a single line it can be said that the dance drama ticks all the boxes. This reviewer finds choreography (by Guru Dr Gajendra Panda), light design (by Nalini Nihar Nayak) and portrayal of characters (by the members of ‘Tridhara’) impeccable.
As the dancers went on enacting episode after episode, the crème de crème of art lovers could hardly take their eyes off the stage.
Starting from king Dasarath announcing coronation of prince Ramchandra, to Lord Ram, Laxman and Sita going to exile, a golden deer grazing near the hut, Sita asking Lord Ram to get the deer for her, Laxman going out in search of Lord Ram after drawing three lines in front of the hut, Ravan in guise of a hermit asking for alms from Sita, Ravan taking Sita forcibly with him, Jatayu being killed at Ravan’s hand, Lord Ram being friends with Sugriv and killing Bali, Lord Hanuman flying over the sea, tracing out Sita, Lord Hanuman setting Ravan’s palace on fire, the simian troops making a bridge (setu bandh) to Lanka, Lord Ram and his simian troops marching towards Lanka, Lord Ram killing Ravana and rescuing Sita; the histrionics were excellent.
Bikram Kumar Samal (Dasarath and Maya Ravan), G. Nageswari (Ram), Dipika Priyadarshini (Laxman), Gayatri Jena (Sita),Prabhutosh Panda (Ravan), Sushree Preeti Nandini (sage), Aarya Nande (Kaikeyi and Bali), Ritika Banerjee (Hanuman and Manthara), Tejashree Jena (Sugriv and Jatayu) and Shreya Shradhanjali Das (Tara) did justice to their respective characters. Other disciples of Guru Dr. Gajendra Panda who participated in the dance drama were Ankita Panda, Khirabdhi Mahapatra, Rutuja Mahapatra, Harapriya Sahu, Madhubrata Mahapatra, Ishita Panda, Monalisha Maharana, Muskan Nayak and Priyadarshini Behera.
Seamless entry and exit of dancers while portraying their characters needs special mention. This reviewer has seen many such dance dramas that performed below expectation when it comes to entry and exit of dancers.
From choreography point of view, it takes the cake. Guru Dr Gajendra Panda intersperses the dance drama with Odissi and folk dances as per the requirement which gives it an engrossing viewing experience.
Its music was composed by Pt. Harmohan Khuntia, rhythm composed by Late Guru Banamali Maharana and script by Kabi Kasinath Nahak.
Guru Debaprasad Das was the architect of the institution ‘Tridhara’. He established it in 1980. Since his death (July 16, 1986), his disciple Guru Dr. Gajendra Panda is carrying forward his legacy. He is the director of the institution.
By kalasanskruti
Photo courtesy: Tridhara
