Stage set for Dhauli Kalinga Matotsav

The Samikhsya Bureau

BHUBANESWAR: The stage is set for the 17th Dhauli Kalinga Mahotsav – an annual national festival of performing arts – at the foothills of the historic heritage site of Dhauli here.

Scheduled to be inaugurated on Saturday evening, the three-day event is being staged collectively by the Department of Tourism of Odisha Government and city based Odissi dance institutions – Odisha Dance Academy and Art Vision.

The inaugural evening will feature Odissi dance by host Odisha Dance Academy led by its director Guru Aruna Mohanty. It will be followed by Kathak presentation by Kolkata-based exponent Ashimbandhu Bhattacharjee’s Upasana Centre for Dance to conclude with Mayurbhanja Chhau dance by Central Sangeet Natak Akademi awardee Guru Sadasiva Pradhan’s Angika troupe from Bhubaneswar.

The second evening of the event on Sunday will commence with Odissi dance presentation by Guru Ileana Citaristi’s Art Vision ensemble from Bhubaneswar. Chennai-based well-known Bharatanatyam guru and choreographer Anitha Guha’s Bharatanjali troupe will stage the next concert while Purulia Chhau dance by Kalipada Chhau Nritya Samiti of Purulia with its director Susanta Mahato will be the last presentation of the evening.

The concluding evening on Monday will showcase Odissi by Odisha’s Angul-based Nrutya Nilaya troupe of Swapnarani Sinha followed by Kuchipudi by Guru Vyjayanti Kashi’s Shambhavi School of Dance from Bengaluru and Sareikalla Chhau by New Delhi based well-known exponent Sashadhar Acharya’s Acharya Chhau Nrutya Bichitra ensemble.

The festival will be streamed live on Doordarshan and other social media platforms, the hosts informed.