New Delhi’s premier Odissi dance institution, Utsav Educational and Cultural Society, Ranjana Odissi Dance Academy, celebrates 38 years of its glorious existence with the seminar – Odissi at the crossroads transition from past to present featuring top Odissi dancers like Sharon Lowen, Madhavi Mudgal, Jyoti Shrivastava and Kavita Dwivedi. The session will be moderated and the opening speech will be delivered by Padma Vibhushan Dr Sonal Mansingh along with the founder director of Utsav Educational Centre – Padmashri Ranjana Gauhar on Sunday 16th March, CD Deshmukh auditorium, India International Centre in New Delhi in the morning, followed by the speech of all the participants.
Renowned Odissi exponent Madhavi Mudgal pertaining to choreography will talk regarding the balance between tradition and experimentation in new productions, regarding Sahitya (literature) veteran danseuse Sharon Lowen will talk regarding analysing the role of poetry, language and literary sources in shaping Odissi’s narrative and expression. Jyoti Shrivastava will throw light on music, exploring the changing dynamics of Odissi’s musical tradition, innovations in compositions and the role of live vs recorded music. Charming Odissi danseuse Kavita Dwivedi will talk about technique, discussing evolving training methodologies and their impact on performance and endurance. The seminar will conclude will question and answer session and open discussion regarding the varied aspects of Odissi.
After the seminar Nritya Moha, solo performances by the disciples of Guru Ranjana Gauhar in order to celebrate Guru shishya parampara, the sacred bond between the teacher and the disciples will be rendered. The senior disciples who would perform are Swati Sharma,Urjaswi Dutta, Shambhavi Gupta Archisha Arya and Lavanya Chugh. The programme is supported by the Ministry of Culture, Government of India.
Padmashri Guru Ranjana Gauhar “Being a senior mentor and performer, its essential to understand and appreciate as to what Odissi dancers are trying to do, hence this is unique occasion for me to interact with everyone as we grow,learn and respect each other as we practice and perform Odissi, enhancing the beauty of this lyrical dance while establishing India’s rich cultural heritage on the global platform”.
CLASSICAL DANCE FOR THE UNDERPRIVILEGED
Art for All – embracing inclusivity through dance. At the heart of the Sarfojiraje Bhosale Centre in Dadar, lies a profound commitment of preserving, promoting and propagating Indian dance. Founder director Dr Sandhya Purecha firmly believes in breaking the barriers of elitism often associated with the classical arts, ensuring that dance is accessible to all, especially those from the underpriveleged class, In persuit of this vision, free dance education is being provided to students from BMC schools, nurturing young talent, fostering love for the classical arts and proving students with the confidence ad discipline that learning an form entails.As part of the NCPA’s Nritya Parichay, part of the CSR initiative, Kala Avishkar programme was recently held at Pragati Vidyalaya at the venue of Bharata College of Art and culture, children presented various dances with lot of enthusiasm and sincerity, under the mentorship of Dr Sandhya Purecha, Dr Lata Surendra, and Guru Purbita Mukherjee. Schools spearheaded by Sarfojiraje Bhosale Centre (instructor Chitra,Krupali and Shalaka) were Dossibhai Jeejeebhoy High School, Jogeshwari, Nivara Vidyalaya, Goregoan, Datta Samant Madhyamaik Vidyalaya, Kanjurmarg and Mumbai Public School, Dadar. School spearheaded by Dr Lata Surendra were Smt Shantabai Madhabai Patel Madhyamik Vidyalaya,Kanjurmarg. School spearheaded by Guru Purbita Mukherjee was Chhatrpati Shivaji Vidyalaya. Dr Sandhya Purecha who is also the chairperson of the Sangeet Nataka Akademi graced the occasion with her presence and encouraged all the children who performed.
