International Odissi Festival 2011: Laurence LeBail SImon performs Harir iha mugdha (Kelucharan Mohapatra)

International Odissi Festival 2011: Laurence LeBail SImon performs Harir iha mugdha

Director: Kelucharan Mohapatra

Duration: 00:11:29; Aspect Ratio: 1.778:1; Hue: 22.532; Saturation: 0.334; Lightness: 0.121; Volume: 0.116; Words per Minute: 23.482

The 4th International Odissi Dance Festival in 2011 was held from December 23 to 30, 2011, at Rabindra Mandap Bhubaneswar. The festival was preceded by an attempt to create a world record by having around 550 dancers perform together at Kalinga Stadium. It saw the participation of most major Odissi ensembles in Orissa and a few from outside the state. With performances for over twelve hours each day, the festival featured several hundred performers in solo, duet and group works over eight days. In its scale, the festival offered a bird's eye view of the landscape of contemporary Odissi and its ever-changing nature. It foregrounded new trends in choreography, music and costuming. The seminars during the festival sparked lively debates on issues and concerns in Odissi. One such concern, voiced repeatedly, questioned the definition of tradition within the space of the dance form and the limits it could be stretched to. This raised parallel questions about innovation and experimentation in Odissi - a debate that found itself mirrored in the performances during the festival.

Laurence Le Bail Simon from France is a disciple of Sujata Mohapatra.

She performs Harir iha mugdha, an ashtapadi from Jayadeva's epic Gita Govinda, where Krishna, in Radha's absence, dances with the gopis with joyous abandon. The annotations include a layer of sanchari narrated by Kumkum Lal.

Bhubaneswar, Orissa
Gita Govinda
Jayadeva
Sujata Mohapatra
abhinaya
ashtapadi
gopis
Krishna

Verse:
Harir iha mugdha-vadhu-nikare
vilasati vilasini keli-pare
Translation:
Krishna, with great elation, revels in amorous pastime amidst an assembly of playful heroines in the Vrndavana forest.
(Not far from him, Radha stands with her sakhi, observing Krishna and his admirers play with each other)

This is from the second canto of the Gitagovinda. It describes Krishna's dalliance with the gopis. It was composed as part of a ballet called Krishnagatha. A group of dancers come and perform a dance inside a temple. This was the song they danced to.

Hari is here with the vilasinis - the young amorous women. He places each of his arms on the shoulders of a gopi. He finds a flower for the bun of one gopi. He notices the other gopi feeling slightly jealous, so he praises her beauty and dances with her.
Then there is a description of his looks - his blue body, which is the colour of the sky, has been anointed with sandal paste and he wears yellow garments. He is called 'vanamali' because he wears a garland of wild flowers.

Verse:
chandana-charchita-nila-kalevara-pita-vasana-vanamali
keli-calan-mani-kundala-mandita-ganda-yuga-smita-sali
Translation:
Smeared with sandalwood and dressed in yellow cloth with a garland of forest flowers,
his earrings swing to and fro; the beauty of his cheeks is astonishing and his playful laughter is like honey.

When he walks about joyfully, his earrings sway vigorously; their swaying accentuates the beauty of his smiling face (cheeks).

Here, Jagannath is depicted, just for a fleeting moment.
'Iha' means here, 'mugdha' - intoxicated (with love). So Hari is here in the crowd of intoxicated maidens.

Verse:
Harir iha mugdha-vadhu-nikare
vilasati vilasini keli-pare
Translation:
Krishna, with great elation, revels in amorous pastime amidst an assembly of playful heroines in the Vrndavana forest.

Verse:
chandana-charchita-nila-kalevara-pita-vasana-vanamali
Translation:
He is smeared with sandalwood and dressed in yellow cloth with a garland of forest flowers...

The heavy-breasted women embrace Krishna and lean upon him. Pancama raga, which the women are singing, has some sort of an erotic connotation. It is said that pancama is the note of eroticism, though I'm not very sure.

Verse:
Pina payodhara-bhara-bharena harim parirabhya sa-ragam
gopa-vadhur anugayati kacid udancita-pancama-ragam
Translation:
A gopi passionately embraces Krishna, her full breasts pressing against his chest,
while they sing together in pancama raga.

Verse:
Kara-tala-taala-tarala-valayavali-kalita-kalasvana-vamse
Translation:
Clapping her hands in perfect rhythm, her bangles tinkle, making sweet sounds that complement the melody wafting out from Krishna's flute.

This is the moment of the rasalila - Hari dances with the enraptured gopis.

(Rhythmic piece in bols, enunciated by Guruji)

Kumkum: There's an entire arasa here.

(Rhythmic piece in bols, enunciated by Guruji)

Verse:
Kara-tala-taala-tarala-valayavali-kalita-kalasvana-vamse
rasa-rase-saha-nritya-para harina yuvatih prasasamse
Translation:
Clapping her hands in perfect rhythm, her bangles tinkle, making sweet sounds that complement the melody wafting out from Krishna's flute.
As they dance the rasa lila together, the enraptured young gopi entrances Hari and is praised by him.

Concluding portion of ashtapadi. The song ends with a rhythmic piece.
Verse:
Harir iha mugdha-vadhu-nikare
vilasati vilasini keli-pare
chandana-charchita-nila-kalevara-pita-vasana-vanamali
Translation:
Krishna, with great elation, revels in amorous pastime amidst an assembly of playful heroines in the Vrndavana forest.
He is smeared with sandalwood and dressed in yellow cloth with a garland of forest flowers...

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