Gurgaon-based dance institution organises Odissi Dance Festival in Delhi

New Delhi: Nritya Dhara, a Gurgaon-based Odissi dance institution organized an Odissi Dance Festival titled ‘Nritya Vilasa’ recently at the Stein Auditorium, India Habitat Centre, New Delhi. The dance festival was organised as a tribute to Guru Sudhakar Sahoo. Odissi, Bharatanatyam and Contemporary Dance inspired by a variety of forms gave Delhi varying flavours in the week gone by Jyoti Shrivastava captured the audience through her sensitive abhinaya. Her “Krishna Milap” with a brief bhumi pranam and homage to Krishna’s charm through the verse “Kasturi Tilakam”, concluding with a truncated moksha, had its main component in the lyric in Khamas, “Kilo sajani keli kadamba mule”. The nayika, looking at the kadamba tree, reminisces with the sakhi about Krishna who romanced with her under its shade. With a kavit and ukkuta phrases strung into the main interpretative fabric, the dancer’s mukhabhinaya, along with immaculate sense of timing, showed how even expressional dance, for optimum effect, needs a perfect feel for rhythm. Vani Madhav, a one-time disciple of Guru Debaprasad Das, now under Sudhakar Sahoo, in the simply choreographed Kalavati pallavi. Alpana Nayak, more known in her avatar as a worker with the specially abled, in “Vichitra varna” tried to paint a many-sided picture of the contemporary woman walking alongside her husband as an equal partner in life, exemplifying qualities divinised through verses on Durga, Kali, Mohini, Ahalya, Yashoda manifestations, tagging it with modern poetry like “Janani mu Janani” and “Kshama mor anya Nama.” Dancer Anita Babu portrayed Sringaram, Hasyam, Bhayam, Karunyam and Shantam from the Navarasa through episodes based on the Ramayana. Sahana Balasubramanya put in a brilliant Bharatanatyam performance. Young talent Priyanka Ravishankar, a disciple of Prashanti Natyalayam under Vasant Sridhar, presented Bharatanatyam. ANI