Duration: 00:11:33; Aspect Ratio: 1.333:1; Hue: 21.407; Saturation: 0.118; Lightness: 0.147; Volume: 0.408; Cuts per Minute: 1.038
Summary: The 3rd International Odissi Festival was organised by IPAP between December 26 - 30, 2006 in Bhubaneswar. Dedicated to the memory of Guru Kelucharan Mohapatra, the festival also saw the construction of a gigantic open-air dance theatre in the Utkal Sangeet Mahavidyalaya campus. The daylong performances included leading and upcoming Odissi dancers. The festival also made space for seminars, Odissi music and lecture demonstrations.
Sitara Thobani first began dancing at the age of 8 under the direction of Lata Pada in the Bharatanatyam style. She began her studies in Odissi under the esteemed Dr. Ratna Roy in 1997. Since then, Sitara has undertaken intensive training in India at Nrityagram as well as at Orissa Dance Academy. Sitara has performed at many cultural and art events in Canada and the United States, including the International Odissi Conference in Washington D.C. in August, 2003. She has also performed at the Diamond Jubilee Hall in Dar-es-Salaam, the Zanzibar International Film Festival in Tanzania, as well as in Calcutta and Delhi. A recipient of a Canada Arts Council Grant for Emerging Dance Professionals, Sitara spent a month in Orissa studying both dance and Odissi percussion. In August 2005, Sitara completed her solo debut Rangapravesh performance in Vancouver. She is also a recent recipient of the Indo-Canadian Shastri Institute scholarship for further dance training in India, which she will commence later this year. Sitara specializes in the mahari or women’s tradition of Odissi.
Here, she performs Ahalya, a extract from Guru Pankaj Charan Das' composition of Panchakanya.
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