Bhubaneswar: Annual International Odishi Dance Festival (IODF) that was inaugurated at the Rabindra Mandap here on Tuesday. The annual event that was launched in 2006 as a national festival for Odishi dance and music is being hosted by the State-run Guru Kelucharan Mohapatra Odissi Research Centre (ORC).
The festival was collectively inaugurated by Bhubaneswar MP Prasanna Patsani and MLA Priyadarshi Mishra, Odishi exponents Kumkum Mohanty, Ileana Citaristi, Aruna Mohanty and Ratikant Mohapatra, Odisha Lalit Kala Akademi President Raghunath Mohapatra, former Commissioner of Culture AK Tripathy and ORC Chief Executive Sangita Gosain.
Dates of the five-day festival are fixed from December 26 to 30 in the Department of Culture’s annual calendar. The festival this year features above 100 solo dancers, 15 duets and 15 troupes.
The inaugural evening witnessed an impressive solo dance recital by Kolkata-based senior dancer Rina Jana, a disciple of legendary Guru Kelucharan Mohapatra, and a brilliant group presentation by US-based Urvasi Dance Ensemble led by its founder and director Professor Ratna Roy, well-known as the senior-most exponent of the distinct Guru Pankaj Charan Das gharana of Odishi dance besides being a globally-renowned scholar.
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