BHUBANESWAR: Into its eighth annual edition, the Ekamra National Dance and Music festival hosted at Rabindra Mandap in the Capital last week by Odissi Guru Pitambar Biswal’s Suravi dance institute was a treat for the eyes and the ears as well for the connoisseurs of Indian classical dance and music.
The three-day affair – that was known as a dance festival - added a distinct dimension this year by inviting some of the stalwarts and promising performers of Odissi and Hindustani music.
The artistes included veteran percussionist (mardal player) Sachidananda Das and prominent Odissi vocalist Bijay Kumar Jena who exhibited the lesser explored aspects of Odissi music. And the enchanting jugalbandi on flute and violin was presented by young but acclaimed artistes Prabhu Prasad Behera and Agnimitra Behera respectively.
Though there were two senior Odissi dancers this year – Gita Mahalik and Snehaprava Samantaray who received Suravi Samman and performed - the dance segment belonged to the band of young and brilliant performers this year who offered memorable solo recitals. The festival featured Bharatanatyam dancer Lavanya Ananth from Chennai; Kuchipudi artiste Anuradha Roy and Kathak dancer Payel Mallik – both from Kolkata and Odissi dancers Madhusmita Mohanty, Aurosmita Acharya, Dibyashree Panda and Jyotirmayee Patnaik (all from Orissa) and Soumya Bose from Tripura.
As expected, Lavanya and Madhusmita – both recipients of Ustad Bismillah Khan Yuva Prativa Puraskar from Sangeet Natak Akademi - excelled in their pure and expressional dance presentations. Anuradha, who stood second in Kuchipudi in the last National Youth Festival and Payel, a repertoire member of the well-known Padatik Dance Centre, Kolkata, were quite impressive.
So was young Odissi dancer and actress Aurosmita. However, the find of the festival this year was Dibyashree Panda, who was the youngest artiste of the event. The budding dancer, a disciple of Guru Pitambar Biswal, exhibited incredible intensity in her expressional dance that moved exponents like Guru Gangadhar Pradhan present on the occasion.
Host Suravi’s annual day celebration followed the three-day festival and thus the fourth evening featured Guru Biswal’s disciples and compositions in solo, duet and group presentations.
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