The annual festival of dance and music – Barsha – being hosted in Bhubaneswar by the three decade old cultural organisation Chinta-O-Chetana (that also hosts the annual Baisakhi cultural festival) ascended new heights this year with a well-planned and neatly executed event – thanks to its artistic director and Odissi Guru Ratikant Mohapatra.
The presence of living legend Sunanda Patnaik in the festival brought utmost honour and attraction for the event. Since the singer from Orissa stays in Kolkata and usually stays away from the music festivals happening in her home state, her presence pulled a crowd of connoisseurs and her fans to the auditorium where she addressed the gathering but sang very briefly.
The recently concluded four-day festival at Rabindra Mandap featured a number of veteran artistes along with the young and the acclaimed. But it was the young brigade that stole the show with its pulsating performances. The music segment had Hindustani vocal recital by Bhubaneswar-based Guru Chittaranjan Pani, light classical and ghazal recital by Kolkata-based veteran music composer and singer Debasis Sarkar and a concert conceived and conducted by well-known Oriya music composer Shantanu Mohapatra with gifted singers Bandita Ray and Sura Sarita Rout. However, it was the enchanting flute recital by the city-based young and acclaimed Srinivas Satapathy that emerged as the most memorable performance of the festival. The concert of Barsha Gita - songs on rain – sung by a number of popular singers like Bijay Jena, Sangita Gosain and Laxmikant Palit – was the other popular presentation of the dance segment.
The dance segment has a powerful presentation by two of the young and brilliant Indian classical dancers – Rajashri Praharaj (Odissi from Bhubaneswar) and Malabika Sen (Bharatanatyam from Kolkata) – whom one would love to watch again and again for their striking stage presence, confidence, unbound energy, total involvement and flawless execution of techniques. The dance segment also had solo performances by senior
Odissi dancers Gita Mahalik (New Delhi) and Aloka Kanungo (Kolkata) and a group presentation by Guru Gajendra Panda and his troupe.