By Kedar Mishra
Peace shall come holding the hand of a child, it was told some anonymous poet in a lesser known prayer somewhere. Knowingly or unknowingly idea of that prayer was so aptly reflected in a small choreographic piece presented as the inaugural production by Orissa dance academy, on the second evening of Dhauli-Kalinga festival yesterday.
Veteran choreographer and dancer Aruna Mohanty composed a signature dance number where peace was the central theme. through a huge group of well trained dancers the theme was communicated in superb meticulousness. What was important in this dance piece is not it’s discipline or sculptural space building, (that is so natural in an ODA production)rather real significance of this choreography comes from the positional strength of the dancers who are from various age groups-from 5 to 30 years of age. The youngest dancers led the big group in the path of peace and that metamorphosed the dance into a visual poetry . The choreography blooms like a wild flower, so natural, so spontaneous.
Kolkota based Odissi exponent Sharmila Biswas, known for her innovative and playful choreographic works, took over the stage with a mixed bag of her old and new works. She began her recital with a traditional ( a Desi Mangalacharana). Though it was announced to be like Rangapooja of Natyasastra, in fact it was more like local Karmakanda or ritual. The raw representation of music and dance movements makes the dance piece a unique one.
Kalashree was a terrific pure dance piece explaining the basic posture of Odissi, the Chauka in great artistic articulation. It was immensely an original idea and sheer joy to watch such an innovative and fresh performance. “Maya Manav”, Sharmila’s concluding presentation was a blend of folk and classical. Trying to coat a philosophical Vyanjana in the famous Hema Harini dhire dhamante song of Vishwanath Khuntia, she juxtaposed the folk beats and expression of Pala which makes the dance number a pure delight.
Only a line of caution for Sharmila Biswas, she must control her music side which goes out of her hand many a times. Another trivia- use of drum beats from Durga Poojo ritual from Bengal could have been avoided in the Abahani piece.
The evening concluded with martial dance Kalaripayatu performed by Ranjan Mullaratt founder of Kalari Academy of Performing Arts, Bangalore
