To celebrate the legacy of Odissi legend Guru Kelucharan Mohapatra, Sanjali Centre for Odissi Dance presents ‘Pravaha Dance Festival’ on 7th April at Seva Sadan, Malleshwaram at 6PM.
Pravaha Dance Festival by Sanjali Centre for Odissi Dance is a celebration of the vision, creativity and artistic performances of Guru Kelucharan. Over a sprawling career of over five decades, Guru Kelucharan enriched the Odissi repertoire with his new compositions. His liberal outlook and love for art has influenced his students to explore unconventional themes that make Odissi relevant for a modern audience. Today, he continues to live through his disciples world over. Sharmila Mukerjee, his disciple, has been instrumental in bringing Odissi to the forefront of the performing arts scene in Bangalore over the last several years through various performances and dance festivals such as Pravaha.
When: 7th April
Where: Seva Sadan, Malleshwaram
Time: 6PM
‘Sitaharan’ by Sharmila Mukerjee
Leading Odissi exponent Sharmila Mukerjee will present “Sitaharan”, a rare solo piece choreographed by Guru Kelucharan Mohapatra. The performance starts with Rama and Sita’s stay at Panchavati. Things take a turn when the demon Maricha, disguised as a golden deer, lures Rama away. Rama leaves to catch the golden deer, which he suspects is the demon Mareecha but only after asking Lakshman to guard Sita. When Mareech sees his death approaching, he mimics the voice of Rama crying for help. Sita is frightened and asks Lakshman to save his brother. Lakshman does so after drawing 3 lines which he repeatedly warns Sita not to cross. But unfortunately Sita crosses the lines when she sees a mendicant. Ravana captures her and seats her in his chariot, Jatayu tries to save Sita by wounding Ravana .But Jatayu’s wings are cut by Ravana and Sita is carried away to Lanka. This piece captures the essence of love, betrayal, and the twist of fate.
Samsara by Padmashri Aruna Mohanty
Samsara is the soul’s journey through the cycle of birth and death. It parallels life to a fleeting droplet of water, here one moment and gone the next, embodying uncertainty. We have many attachments in our lives that constantly tie us down. The soul experiences the journey from childhood to youth to old age. If you gracefully accept these stages in the cycle of life, then why are we so afraid of the next stage, death? The enlightened one realizes the only way to liberate the soul from the ‘samsara’ is “Bhaja Govindam Bhaja Govindam Bhaja Muddhamate”. Choreographed by Guru Aruna Mohanty, lyrics for the piece have been written by Kedar Mishra, and the interpretation of Sanskrit texts by Pt. Nityananda Mishra, complemented by music from Guru Bijaya Kumar Jena and rhythms by Guru Bijaya Kumar Barik.
AIKYAM by Anuradha Vikranth & the Drishti Dance Ensemble
“AIKYAM” – An Amalgamation of Satyam, Shivam and Sundaram that guides the journey for spiritual fulfilment in this universe.
Satyam represents the eternal truth that Prakruthi and Parameshwara are formidable. Shivam is the powerful and auspicious combination of Shiva and Shakti that protects and leads to the progress of mankind. Sundaram beholds that all the creations in this universe are beautiful and belong to a single family.
With guidance from Shatavadhani Dr. R Ganesh, music by Sri Praveen D Rao, and choreography by Smt Anuradha Vikranth, “AIKYAM” offers a journey into these profound concepts.
