Bhubaneswar: Two-day long festival ‘Malhar’, presented by Nupur, inaugurated at Bhanjakala Mandap in Bhubaneswar on Tuesday. Nupur is one of the premier dance institutions of Odisha, established around 40 years ago by Guru Niranjan Rout.
The star attraction of the evening was famous Odissi dancer Sujata Mohapatra.
The institution felicitated Guru Sujata Mohapatra, Shri Jayakrushna Samal, Guru Shri Chandramani Lenka, Shri Bijay Kumar Barik and Dr Rajendranath Samantray with ‘Malhar Samman’ for their excellence in the fields of Odissi dance, literature, Odissi vocal, Odissi music (Mardala) and health service respectively.
The festival got a perfect start with renowned Odissi dancer Sujata Mohapatra presenting two captivating items.
The svelte dancer began her recital with a ‘Mangalacharan’, dedicated to Lord Ram.
Her second presentation was Adi Shankaracharya’s ‘Ardhanariswara’. Her remarkable exploration of the visual beauty of male and female (Purusha and Prakriti) concept in one body left the dance connoisseurs hooked to their seats.
Her both the presentations were among the finest choreographies of Padama Vibhushan awardee Guru Kelucharan Mohapatra and music composed by Pt Bhubaneswar Mishra.
She was ably supported by Ekalabya Muduli on mardal, Rupak Kumar Parida on vocal, Suramani Ramesh Chandra Das on violin and Soumya Ranjan Dash on flute.
For both the presentations, Deviprasad Mishra designed the light, that added beauty to the presentations.
The second item of the evening was a duet ‘Brundabane Ke Bansi Balaila…’, presented by Nupur’s students Akanksha Das and Neelam Panda.
Both the dancers were excellent at facial expressions and body movements. Their and their guru Niranjan Rout’s hard work was visible on the stage.
The concluding item of the evening was a group presentation by the students of Nritya Naivedya, a dance institution based in Bhubaneswar. They presented ‘Sadaripu’, script by Mahendra Acharya, music composition by Matruprasad Das, rythym composition by Guru Dhaneswar Swain and dance choreography by Nritya Naivedya’s Pravat Kumar Swain.
Among others, Guru Dhaneswar Swain, social activist Rashmi Pattanayak, Nupur’s chairman Subhendu Mohanty, director Guru Niranjan Rout and secretary Mamata Satpathy were present at the event.
The emcee of the evening was Dr Srinivas Ghatuary.
By kalasanskruti
