BENGALURU : Sanjali Centre for Odissi Dance presented ‘Navaayanam’, an annual dance festival to celebrate Odissi choreography. The festival was held on August 24, at Seva Sadan, Malleswaram. This edition of Navaayanam celebrated the legacy of Odissi dancer Sanjukta Panigrahi. Navaayanam brought together three reputed artistes – Odissi danseuse Sharmila Mukerjee and her ensemble Sanjali, leading Bharatanatyam exponent Sathyanarayana Raju and Soundarya Igoor to showcase new choreographies in different classical dance forms. ‘Navaayanam’, which means ‘new direction’, is a step towards exploring new frontiers in Odissi dance and encouraging artistes to explore new themes within traditional Odissi repertoire. Known for curating ‘Pravaha’, a dance festival in memory of Odissi legend Kelucharan Mohapatra, Navaayanam by Sharmila Mukerjee was yet another event to present the dance form to a larger audience.
“The edition of Navaayanam celebrated Panigrahi as a remarkable performer and choreographer. Considered as one of the greatest disciples of Kelucharan Mohapatra, Panigrahi was known for her artistic performances, creative vision and innovative choreographies,” Mukherjee said.
As one of the foremost exponents of Odissi, her performances in India and across the globe gave the art form a global recognition. “To celebrate Panigrahi’s flair for new choreographies and her contribution to Odissi, Navaayanam is showcasing new compositions with unique themes, bringing forth the Odissi format,” added Mukherjee.
Navaayanam opened with a tribute to Panigrahi on her 75th birth anniversary. Sharmila Mukerjee inaugurated the evening with Shiva Stuti, a solo piece choreographed by late Panigrahi, the Padma Shri recipient who passed away in 1997. This was followed by a Kannada composition choreographed by Mukerjee. The music for the same was composed by Praveen D Rao.
The solo performance was followed by Sisira Geetam, a group presentation by Sanjali ensemble. Sisira Geetam is based on Kalidasa’s Ritusamhara that showcases the glory of winter. The performance brought out the colours of the season, the freshness of paddy fields, migrating birds and other nuances of winter. The script for Sisira Geetam had been arranged by Pt Nityanand Mishra.The event was concluded by a Bharatanatyam duet by Sathyanarayana Raju and Soundarya Igoor. They showcased varnam ‘Sarasijanabha’ on Lord Vishnu.