9 January 2023
DARPANI – MARDALA-MANJEERA: DANCE FESTIVAL
KATHAK DANCE BY DARPANI/ KATHAK SOLO BY LUNA PODDAR / BHARATANATYAM BY SATHYANARAYAN RAJU(Bengaluru) & ODISSI DANCE OF DARPANI/MANIPURI SOLO BY BIMBAVATI DEVI / ODISSI SOLO BY VIDUSHI SUJATA MAHAPATRA
DARPANI, a premier dance Institution founded for promoting the rich cultural heritage of India through the medium of Indian classical and contemporary dance forms unleashed once again the true spirit and aesthetics of dance before the enthusiastic audience at SATYAJIT RAY AUDITORIUM (I.C.C.R Kolkata) for two days on 7th and 8th of this month. The graceful and lyrical movement supported by the intricate rhythm patterns of exceptional beauty conveyed a sense of spiritual release and soul liberation, soaring into the realm of pure aesthetics in the mind of many art enthusiasts.
Darpani presented the ‘Mardala-Manjeera-The Dance Rhythm’ Festival of Classical Odissi dance by the renowned Darpani Troup followed by the solo performance of renowned Kathak dancer Luna Poddar and Bharatanatyam by Sathyanarayan Raju, Bengaluru.
The eminent artist Luna Poddar is a recommended artist of Sangeet Natak Academy, New Delhi and a recipient of National Scholarship from Government of India, an A grade Artist of Calcutta Doordarshan, a recipient of Bharat Nirman Award for Talented Ladies 2002 and ‘Outstanding Young Person of Kolkata 2003’ award by Jaycees.
Luna Poddar started studying Kathak at a very early age of 4 under the renowned Kathak Guru Pandit Vijay Shankar of Lucknow Gharana and thereafter with internationally famous Kathak Guru Pt. Birju Maharaj. She has performed all over India and abroad including with Ila Arun for ‘Indian Year in Canada’, Programe at Nehru Center, London organized by High Commission of India, Ross-On-Way, International Dance Festival, Chitralekha Dance Company all over UK and at the G8 Summit held at Birmingham in 1998. The BBC telecast her Interview and performance on their Channel II.
Sathyanarayana Raju is one of the most sought after male dancers and choreographers in India. He was trained under Sangeet Natak Akademi awardee Guru Smt. Narmada of Shakuntala Nrityalaya and Guru Smt. Subhadra Prabhu in the Pandanallur style of Bharatanatyam. He was also trained in Kathak under Dr. Maya Rao and Smt. ChitraVenugopal. He is an ‘A- top’ Graded artiste of Doordarshan and received popular acclaim in UK, USA, Canada, Switzerland, France, Maldives and Singapore. He has received many awards including Karnataka Kalashree award, DoordarshanChandana award, Kempegowda award and many more.
Renowned artist Bimbavati Devi, who is now engaged in empirical choreographies based on Manipuri dance and experimenting with new idioms that expand the vocabulary of movements performed on the second day.
Vidushi Sujata Mahapatra, the internationally acclaimed dancer, presented solo Odissi with immensely rich grace and great depth of expression that mesmerised the audience. Sujata Mohapatra was born in Balasore and started learning Odissi at an early age from Guru Sudhakar Sahu. She received training under Padma Vibhushan Guru Kelucharan Mohapatra at Odissi Research Centre, Bhubaneshwar. She married Ratikant Mohapatra, son of Guru KelucharanMohapatra. Under the tutelage of Kelucharan Mohapatra, her dance style evolved and she was groomed to become one of the foremost Odissi dancers of her generation. Vidishi Sujata Mohapatra performs in India and other countries as a soloist and a leading member of the Srjan Dance Troupe, founded by her father-in-law.
The festival was curated and directed by Arnab Bandyopadhyay and well-anchored by Sujoy Prasad Chatterjee.
