For the first time in the State, exponents of eight classical dance forms will be felicitated with Nrutya Vidwan (male) and Nrutya Vidushi (female) titles during the International Dance Congress (IDC) to be held at Rabindra Mandap from June 20 to 22.
They are Priyambada Mohanty Hejmadi (Odissi), Girija Chandran (Mohiniattam), Sheela Unnikrishnan (Bharatanatyam), Vedantam Ramalinga Sastry (Kuchipudi), Kalavati Devi (Manipuri), Kalamandalam T S Vasunni (Kathakali), Uma Dogra (Kathak) and Anita Sharma (Sattriya).
City-based Italian Odissi and Chhau dancer Ileana Citaristi, who made Odisha her home three decades ago, will be specially honoured for her lifetime commitment to Odissi dance. Odissi maestro Durga Charan Ranbir will be honoured with Nritya Vachaspati Samman. Similarly, while dancer Ratikant Mohapatra, Bathina Vikram Goud from Andhra Pradesh and Samar Sharma from Guwahati will be presented the IDC awards for their special contribution to dance promotion, eminent dance critic and historian Sunil Kothari will be honoured with Nrutya Vidwan title.
Informing this to mediapersons on Monday, festival director Jagabandhu Jena said the dance congress would be an annual international dance festival that will feature all dances from across the world. It will be the first of its kind in the City.
The event is being hosted by the City-based Devdasi Nrutya Mandir that has been hosting annual Devdasi National Dance Festival and Naveen Kalakar Annual Talent-hunt Dance and Music Festival for the past six years. The three-day festival, showcasing all Indian classical dance styles, will feature artistes from Sri Lanka, Ukraine, Mexico, Italy, the US, Bangladesh, and India. It has been dedicated to Guru Gangadhar Pradhan.