Eminent dancer Madhulita Mohapatra and her team Nrityantar Dance Ensemble enthralled the audience during the Sivaratri festival celebrations at the Vadakkumnathan temple here on Saturday with a scintillating Odissi recital.
Ms. Mohapatra captivated the audience with her choreographic skills and imaginative use of movements and space. Reshmi Divakaran, Nandhana Sashikumar, Siri K. Reddy, Divyatmika Mohanty, Srudhi Ratheesh, Mini Soma Kumar and Rajitha Shekhar were the other dancers in the team.
To mark the occasion of Sivaratri, dance ensemble commenced their performance with an invocatory piece titled Shivam Dhimahi as a tribute to the Lord of Dance, Nataraja. It encapsulates how Lord Shiva is the dispeller and destroyer of doubts and difficulties. His matted locks hold river Ganga and he wears the moon crescent on his head. To save the world, he swallows poison, turning his throat blue. His celestial dance of tandava annihilates everything into nothingness.
It was followed by a solo abhinaya item by Ms. Mohapatrabased on the ashtapadi ‘Ramate Yamuna Pulina Vane’ from the popular Sanskrit epic Geeta Govinda written by the poet Jayadeva.
Searching for her beloved among the quivering trees and vines along the banks of the Yamuna river, Radha imagines Krishna dallying in love-play with other gopis on the sand dunes near the bank of the Yamuna. She wonders and asks why she has been waiting for Krishna, while he is busy with other women. The dance piece is beautifully choreographed by Ms. Mohapatra’s guru, Padma Shri Aruna Mohanty.
Next was a group presentation based on the popular Kannada devarnama ‘Hari Smarane Mado’ written by the poet Saint Purandara Dasa. The music was composed by Guru Bijaya Kumar Jena and was set to the raga Ragamalika and tala Ektali. Powerful imagery in the formations depicting Dasavatara (the ten incarnations of Lord Vishnu) marked the crescendo of this beautiful dance piece.
The troupe concluded their recital with the dance piece ‘Ishwari’. It was an ode to Devi and eulogies three popular forms of Devi (the Goddess) – Manikeshwari, Chamundeshwari and Durgeshwari.
A recipient of Ustad Bismillah Khan Yuva Puraskar from the Central Sangeet Natak Akademi and the Kempegowda Award, Ms. Mohapatra has carved a niche as one of the leading Odissi exponents in the country.
