Aptly titled, Vasant Utsav, the dance festival at Kapaleeswarar Temple became a celebration of spring at the odissi performance by Sanhita Basu Ghose and her disciples on Saturday. The event was indeed noteworthy, as it brought varying colours and emotions to the spotlight. Everything about the dance was surreal, starting from the costumes to their graceful steps and music.
As the audience watched the riveting performance, one did not necessarily need to understand language the songs were sung in, the movements and the expressions they emulated was enough to decode the depth of what they were performing.
Listening to the songs was a blissful experience as it reflected the culture, history, the origin of the art as a royal dance form and many other aspects came to mind. Sanhita and her disciples performed on Dasavatharam, Arapi Pallavi and Anuragam, which encompassed the formidable love story between Radha and Krishna. The story might have been told many a times before, but gained a completely different and platonic meaning, as the dancers performed with efficacy, keeping the innocence of both the mythological characters in mind.
The dance attracted more and more people, who visited the temple for darshan, and ended up staying fo much longer, enjoying the performance, and further glorifying gods and their magnificence.