FOR FIVE days the sleepy town of Konark was abuzz with activity. Visitors, a few this year, from far and wide arrived at this world heritage site to witness the annual Konark festival of Indian classical dances hosted by Orissa Tourism. And there were exponents of six styles from various parts of the country who presented their troupes on the specially designed sprawling amphitheatre with the Sun temple forming the backdrop.
The five-day event - the 20th annual edition of India’s second best known festival of its kind that combines promotion of tourism and Indian classical dances (Khajuraho being the best one) – showcased Bharatnatyam, Kathak, Kuchipudi, Manipuri, Mohiniattam and Odissi. Each evening featured two dance styles and being Orissa’s own, Odissi was the daily feature. Three well-known Odissi exponents and two premiere institutions of Odissi – Sonal Mansingh, Aruna Mohanty and Ranjana Gauhar; Kala Vikash Kendra (KVK), Cuttack and Odissi Research Centre (ORC), Bhubaneswar – staged the shows.
Guru Gangadhar Pradhan’s globally known Orissa Dance Academy, now led by veteran dancer and choreographer Aruna Mohanty stole the show this year. Its presentation of Navarasa (nine emotions) based on the story of the Ramayana emerged as the best performance of the festival winning rave response of the audience. KVK’s presentation Mokshya, a dance drama inspired by the story of the Buddha and directed by Guru Naba Mishra had a balanced blending of dance and drama while ORC’s dance drama Kumar Sambhabam based on poet Kalidas’ magnum opus and choreographed by Guru Durga Charan Ranbir suffered from undue elaboration and dramatisation of scenes like the love-play of the Rati and Madan couple and the latter’s shooting of the arrow at the meditating Shiva.
With a smaller troupe, New Delhi-based Ranjana Gauhar staged a neat presentation. This non-Oriya dancer-choreographer won hearts with her attempt to stage the dance drama Chandrabhaga that dwelt on the classic in the same name penned by eminent Oriya poet Radhanath Ray. The presentation was also an apt tribute to Konark as its story was about Konark and the Sun God. However, it was Sonal Mansingh who disappointed with her experimental dance that attempted to combine Odissi with Bharatnatyam and depiction of the status of today’s woman in Aaj Ki Kanya that was set to a Hindi song preceded by her lengthy commentary on the theme in English. The flavour of the Odissi tradition was missing from her recital.
Led by the famed Kathak exponent Geetanjali Lal, the tall and slim-framed energetic young dancers of the Kathak Kendra, New Delhi literally stormed the stage. It was dance of elegance and perfection that gave glimpses of the two major streams of Kathak tradition – Jaipur and Lucknow. US-based Mohiniattam dancer Sunanda Nair, disciple of the distinguished Kanak Rele, gave glimpses of her future as an intelligent choreographer. Her solo expressional recital in the character of Kubja, the hunch-back lady who loved to serve Krishna, was intense and impressive.
Kuchipudi presentation by Hyderabad-based eminent danseuse Sobha Naidu and late Manipuri exponent Guru Babu Singh’s troupe from Imphal failed to live up to the audience expectations. Naidu’s dance drama Navarasa based on the story of Shiva and Parvati was too theatrical and had very little elements of dance. Similarly, the Manipuri troupe’s presentation of Ritu Samhara (the six seasons as described by poet Kalidas) by six dancers – each representing one season – appeared as a solo recital. Watching one dancer performing on this huge stage resulted in monotony as well. And the worst performance came from Mysore-based Bharatanatyam troupe led by Vasundhara Doraswamy whose Surya Narayanaya Namah (Salutation to the Sun God) had an overdose of yogic postures and very little elements of dance.
Anchors Professor Frederik Wright and Sangita Gosain added their midas touch to the festival with their words coming from the hearts. Lucid narration about the dance styles, the dancers and the productions being staged helped the audience to appreciate the presentations better. However, with arrival of very few tourists and dance lovers this year from India and abroad, the event ended as the dullest edition in the history of the Konark festival.
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