Navapallava dance festival

The second edition of the classical

dance

festival,

Navapallava

, was held at Guru Kelucharan Mohapatra Odissi Research Centre recently. The festival — an initiative against the exploitative ‘pay and perform’ practice in Indian classical dance — saw a

Bharatanatyam

recital by

Divya Ravi

from Bangalore and an

Odissi

presentation by

Sasmita Panda

from Cuttack.

The Navapallava series, hosted by eminent dance gurus from various parts of India, provides a dignified platform to promising classical dancers aged between 25 and 40 years to showcase their talent.

A trained Bharatanatyam artiste, performer and choreographer, Divya Ravi, who has learnt under the guidance of Soundarya Srivathsa, commenced her recital with pushpanjali to Raag Mand and Adi Taal. It was followed by shloka in praise of Goddess Saraswati, which has its literary base in Adi Shankaracharya’s Sharad Bhujanga Strotam. Then she started a powerful and energetic rendition of Shiva Sthuti and went on to perorm an expressive dance piece or an abhinaya. Her concluding performance was abhang.

The Odissi dance presentation by Sasmita Panda, a disciple of renowned Odissi exponent Meera Das, started with a traditional mangalacharan. She then presented Hamsadhwani Pallavi, a pure dance presentation composed by the legendary late Guru Kelucharan Mohapatra. She went on to stage an Odia abhinaya to Lajare Sarigali Aaj. The final presentation was Mokshya, composed by Guru Kelucharan Mohapatra.

“Both the dancers kept the audience engaged with their neat movements and commendable stage presence. It was an evening worth enjoying for classical dance lovers, who had gathered here. More importantly, we will organise more such events so that young dancers can perform without fearing the exploitative nature of such event organisers. It will help these youngsters pursue this art form and express their talents,” said

Ratikant Mohapatra

, an organiser.