BHUBANESWAR: ODISSI guru Aruna Mohanty provided an insight into ‘Indian Swan Lake’, a production that she presented in Germany in collaboration with L’Arte Del Mondo and European choreographer Deda Cristina Colonna.
The production that was showcased in Aschaffenburg, Leverkusen and Schloss Sanssouci in June this year, intertwined the timeless beauty of a classical ballet Swan Lake with Nala Damayanti story from the epic, Mahabharata.
At its heart lay the shared motif of the swan, a symbol of beauty, grace, and divine connection in Indian mythology as well as in Swan Lake.
Mohanty gave a pictorial presentation of the collaboration and spoke about it during an event in the city on Wednesday. The choreography brought together melodies of Russian composer Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky’s Swan Lake and the traditional Odissi music to create a harmonious fusion of musical and dance traditions of Odisha and Europe.
It was a moment of pride for Indians, Odias in particular, worldwide to witness Odissi taking the global stage alongside European dance.
“Both Swan Lake and Nala and Damayanti are about an immortal love that is threatened by jealousy and demonic forces. Swan plays an important role in both the stories, as a central character of the Indian mythology symbolising not only beauty, grace and elegance, but also the breath, soul and ultimately, the connection to divinity,” said Mohanty, founder of Orissa Dance Academy.
Music for the production was composed by Tchaikovsky and Massimiliano Toni, Agnimitra Behera and Dhaneshwar Swain.
Productions like ‘Swan Lake’ will be staged across India next year. It was envisioned and organised by Werner Ehrhardt, director of L’ Arte Del Mondo and supported by the Embassy of India in Berlin, Germany and ICCR, New Delhi.
The presentation was attended by Culture Minister Suryabanshi Suraj, chief secretary Manoj Ahuja, development commissioner Anu Garg, among others.