Fabulous Gatha Odissi Dance Performance
Nandita Harish felicitates, Director of Odissa Dance company Aruna Mohanty, as Rathna Kumar, Artistic Director of Samskriti looks on (far left). Photos: Amitava Sarkar
By Sesh Bala
HOUSTON: Houston’s “Samskriti” Indian Performing Arts organization, in collaboration with Orissa Culture Center, presented a fabulous Odissi group dance as a part of its “Incredible India 2013” series on May 31 at the Miller Outdoor Theatre. A troupe of 10 artists, 4 women and 6 men, kept a packed audience spellbound through every one of its 5 dance numbers, together titled “Gatha Odissi: The Journey from Temple to Stage”. The lead dancer and choreographer was Guru Aruna Mohanty, the dynamic Director of the Orissa Dance Academy. The other dancers were Yudhistir Nayak, Pabitra Kumar Pradhan, Biswaji Das, Arupa Gayathri Panda, Prashant Kumar Behera, Rajesh Kumar Palai, Rudra Prasad Swain, Puja Jena and Shipra Avantica Mehrotra. All except Houston’s own Shipra Mehrotra are artists visiting from India. Jayadev Das from India was the lighting designer for the event.
The five dance numbers consisted of Krupanidhana (an old traditional composition that celebrates Lord Jagannath), Khamaj Pallavi (a pure dance with lyrical movements of sensuous grace), Rasa in Ramayana (presenting nine universal emotions each conveyed through a different episode from the Hindu epic Ramayana), Krishna Saranam (depicting seven episodes from the life of Lord Krishna) and finally Swargaadapi Gariysai – Vande Mataram (a tribute to the motherland India). Extremely well choreographed and rehearsed, each dance was enhanced by related images, scenes and well-scripted explanatory supertitles projected on a screen mounted behind the dancers. The pre-recorded music for the dance was clear, melodious and pleasing.
The introductory narratives enhanced the audience understanding of the storyline and lyrics of each dance. Though the entire program lasted about 2 and a half hours including a 10-mintue intermission, most of the audience stayed till the end and showed their appreciation with frequent applause, capped finally with a long standing ovation!
Miller Outdoor Theater and the City of Houston should be commended for enabling the presentation of such Indian programs, with free admission, so a broad cross-section of the city’s population can witness such international cultural presentation. It was a diverse crowd that attended this fabulous Odissi group dance. Samskriti with its Artistic Director Rathna Kumar, her husband Anil Kumar and the Orissa Culture Center should be commended for bringing such high caliber events to Houston for the enjoyment and enrichment of the Houston population.