In her essay “Liminal Spaces, Odissi as a continually evolving fom”, Ranjana Dave writes about what went into systematising the dance form of Odissi. She says :“Between 1957 and 1960, in night long meetings, the group (of scholars, writers and dancers) consulted research on the Odisha’s temple sculpture, analysed the existing dance vocabulary and rhythmic and melodic patterns, to arrive at a comprehensive format for an evening length recital of Odissi – one which is still loosely followed today.”. She continues to write that despite these efforts at systematizing the form, stylistic differences cropped up among the dancers and each of them went on to develop their own distinctive style. This captures an important, yet an ironic moment in the history of Odissi, reflective of the diversity embedded in the culture and practice of Odissi.
Naman, the annual Odissi dance festival in Bangalore organised by Odissi dancer Madhulita Mohapatra draws on this stylistic diversity in Odissi, that evolved parallel to its journey of attaining a classical status. For people who live in Bangalore, the dance festival held in ADA Rangamandira on last Sunday, revealed Odissi beyond its stereotyped identity. It offered glimpses of choreographies by Aruna Mohanty, Sharmila Biswas, Kelucharan Mohapatra and Madhulita Mohapatra which were performed by Bijan Kumar Palai, Shashwati Garai Ghosh, Sujata Mohapatra and Nrityantar dance ensemble respectively.
Shashwati Garai Ghosh, came with two dance pieces – Shiva Parvathi Shabda and “Mayamavav” an excerpt from the “Bichitra Ramayan” that explores Rama’s chase of the golden deer. Deeply settled in her own body, she seemed to know how much to move and how to move. Clean of any gimmicks, both her pieces were extraordinarily imaginative. While the first piece revealed the contours of Odissi, the second one drew on the storytelling potential that Odissi embodies. Unlike a lot of music composed for dance which layers multiple instrumental sounds and vocals together, the musical compositions of her pieces, carried a sense of silence.
Nrityantar ensemble gave the opening performance to a composition called “Ishwari”. The piece carries a rich regional and cultural history of a town called Bhawanipatna, in Western Orissa, as it eulogizes the tribal goddess in her three popular forms. The piece opens on a celebratory note, as one watches the goddess being taken on a procession. Weaving in a lot of folk movements into the language of Odissi, the choreography visualises village scenes in performance.
Bijan Kumar Palai, a student of dancer Aruna Mohanty comes from a background of having trained as a Gotipua since a young age. He performed a Pallavi and a narrative piece titled “Sundar Kanda”. He stood out for his acrobatic movements which probably takes its roots in the Gotipua tradition and for his accentuated torso movements. His dance had a great appeal to the audience and elicited a lot of encouraging responses. Sundar Kanda was a performative take on Hanuman’s journey in the Ramayan, as he leaps across the ocean to locate Sita and carry Rama’s message to her. Bijan Kumar depicts Hanuman’s transformation from a limp monkey into a gargantuan with a great degree of drama. It concludes with a theatrical episode of Hanuman setting the city of Lanka on fire and establishes him as an ideal devotee of Rama. The festival came to a closure with the much awaited performance of Sujata Mohapatra. She arrived on stage, into an atmosphere of curiosity and fanfare. She was a representative of the style of Odissi that the world is most familiar with. Organising her pieces in a sequence that reflects the classical structure- she opened with a Durga Stuti (an ode to the goddess Durga), moved on to an Odissi abhinaya titled Braja Ku Choro and concluded with a fast-paced item called “Moksha”. Braja Ku Choro, the abhinaya piece was the highlight of her performance, a gentle lullaby sung by Yashoda as she struggles to put Krishna to sleep.
The festival was an important event as it gave the audience of the city, an opportunity to encounter Odissi in its diverse styles. In a context where classical dances are often seen as frozen tropes of culture, to acknowledge multiplicity and diversity becomes important. However, an Odissi festival could have become a more meaningful platform not just by showcasing diversity and accolades gathered by dancers, but by situating the dancers in their struggles and their journeys as practitioners of Odissi.
