|     |
|
| |
 Odissi Prativa Utsav: Grooming emerging Odissi soloists - Dr. Tarun K Ojha e-mail. samskritiki@gmail.com Photos courtesy: Odissi International Forum July 26, 2024 Nearly 15 years ago, Shyamhari Chakra, a Bhubaneswar based journalist and arts critic, conceptualised Biswa Odissi Utsav which is also known as Odissi International, an annual union of the global Odissi family in the land of Odissi. Nearly 300 Odissi dancers from about 15 countries join this five-day event every year in Bhubaneswar. Over the years, Shyamhari also launched Odissi Utsavs in Kolkata, Bengaluru, Delhi, Mumbai, Guwahati and Ranchi in association with the local Odissi communities to promote Odissi with special focus on promotion of young Odissi dancers as solo performers. In all these Odissi Utsavs, budding and upcoming Odissi dancers below the age of 10, 20 and 30 perform in three categories as solo dancers in front of a jury of senior dancers and gurus as part of the Odissi International talent search test. The dancers, who get at least 75 per cent marks from the jury, are awarded Odissi Prativa titles. Odissi Prativa Utsav, Shyamhari's latest venture, that was hosted on July 13 and 14 at Bhanja Kala Mandap auditorium of Odisha state culture department in Bhubaneswar, aimed at highlighting the Odissi Prativa Award winners. It was a festival exclusively for the young Odissi soloists. Nearly 70 dancers from Odisha, West Bengal, Delhi, Maharashtra, Karnataka and seven dancers from the USA participated in it. Of them, as many as 42 performers claimed the Odissi International Odissi Prativa titles with their impressive presentations.  Under-30 topper Sunil Kumar Behera In Under-30 age category, Sunil Kumar Behera, a gifted male Odissi soloist from the famed Odisha Dance Academy in Bhubaneswar emerged as the topper while Swati Pattanaik from Suravi Odissi Academy and Amrita from RAWA Academy, both Bhubaneswar-based well-known Odissi dance institutes, claimed the second and the third positions respectively.  Under-20 topper Tanisha Tanushree Late legendary Guru Gangadhar Pradhan's Odisha Dance Academy also retained the top position in the Under-20 age category. Tanisha Tanushree, daughter and disciple of eminent Odissi dancer Madhusmita Mohanty and Ramesh Chandra Jena claimed the first position followed by Anjali Dash of Guru Bichitrananda Swain's Rudrakshya Foundation, Bhubaneswar and Swayang Samparna, disciple of Niladri Mohanty from Rourkela city bagged the second and third positions respectively.  Under-10 topper Debanshee Nayak In Under-10 age category, Kolkata's Debanshee Nayak, currently under tutelage of Bengaluru based Sonalika Padhi; Advaitaa from Mumbai, a disciple of Manaswini Mohanty and Anuska Parida from Bhubaneswar, disciple of Ratnapadma Arasmita at Padmabati Nrutya Mandir were the top-three talents of the test respectively.  "Find of the Festival" title winner Abhijita Panda The show stealer of the two-day festival was Abhijita Panda, an 11-year-old girl from Bhubaneswar-based Sai International School who was declared as the "Find of the Festival" for her distinct debut as a solo dancer. "Shyamhari's single-minded efforts of creating as many platforms as possible for the Odissi dancers of the world through the chain of Odissi Utsavs held across India and also abroad have reaped rich dividends. Now, anyone and everyone can perform on stage irrespective of one's age," remarked eminent Odissi exponent and Chief Executive of the state-owned Guru Kelucharan Mohapatra Odissi Research Centre, Guru Sikata Das, who was the chief guest of the event. Among others, Puducherry based eminent Odissi dancer and Odia film actress Sangeeta Dash; Dipti Mishra, former director of Bhubaneswar Doordarshan Kendra and noted Odissi dancer; well-known Odissi gurus Gajendra Panda, Pitambar Biswal, Bharat Charan Giri; eminent Odissi mardal exponents and Gurus Dhaneswar Swain and Sachidananda Das; senior Odissi dancers and dance trainers Manjushree Panda and Madhusmita Mohanty were the guests and observers of the festival. Dr.Tarun Kumar Ojha is an academician by profession and a painter and culture-writer by passion. A retired college principal, he writes on Odisha's heritage and culture apart from travelogues for prominent Odia publications. |
