Bhubaneswar: The concluding evening of 23rd OMC Guru Kelu Charan Mohapatra Award Festival started with the customary award giving ceremony by the Guests. The Award was instituted in the year 1995 with a view to generating a feeling of cultural amity amongst the performing arts fraternity and acknowledging the excellence and contribution of great artists in the field of dance, music, theatre and cinema. Guru Ratikanta Mohapatra the leading torch-bearer of his father and Guru Kelu Charan Mohapatra’s legacy is committed to reach out the nook and corner of the Globe with all its pristine glory and purity. Srjan (Guru Kelu Charan Mohapatra Odissi Nrutyabasa) founded in 1993 by Guru Kelu Charan Mohapatra has pioneered the cause of recognizing the talents and achievements of individual artists in different art forms.
This year the “NALCO Guru Kelucharan Mohapatra Award 2017” presented to Guru Dhruba Charan Biswal in the field of Dance and Smt. Shyamamani Devi in the field of Music. Secondly “NALCO Guru Kelucharan Mohapatra Yuva Pratibha Samman 2017” presented to Sri Lingaraj Pradhan (Bhubaneswar) & Smt. Namrata Mehta (Mumbai) for Odissi dance, Smt. Jyotsna Jagannathan (Bangalore) for Bharatanatyam and Sri Jateen Kumar Sahoo (Mumbai) for Odissi music.
The artistes of Srjan presented their first presentation Tarana has chosen to embark on new pathways of innovation followed by Hari Smarane is an attempt to represent, only symbolically, the essence of Jayadeva’s beautiful song of love, Geeta Givindam, strictly within the confines of Odissi grammar. The last presentation was an audio visual special presentation – “Mahanayaka Bijayananda”, a Odissi dance of the life and work of Sri Biju Pattnaik. A brave and dynamic leader of the masses, his magnetic personality and dedication shaped his destiny as a political luminary with a huge following. His raw courage and fearlessness in the face of adversity is the stuff of legend. Uncommonly kind and generous by nature, he readily shared the joys and sorrows of the people. His very name, “Bijayananda” (victorious in bringing joy) speaks eloquently of his many deeds aimed at spreading happiness among the common folk. Thus his name Bijayananda was vey apt. The production and the dance choreography were made by Ratikant Mohapatra. The music was by Laxmikant Palit, Script by Jaydev Das & Lyrics by Nityananda Misra. Encapsulate the choreography in varied aspects of the supreme hero (Mahanayaka) and a colossal personality of Biju Patnaik by the artistes from Srjan is mesmerized the audience till the end.
The dignitaries who graced the occasion were Shri R. Balakrishnan, Development Commissioner-cum-Additional Chief Secretary, Odisha; Shri Ashok Kumar Tripathy, Former Member Board of Revenue; Smt. Leela Venkatraman, Dance Critic and Guru Ratikanta Mohapatra, Director, Srjan.
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