Director: Aruna Mohanty
Duration: 00:14:37; Aspect Ratio: 1.778:1; Hue: 70.705; Saturation: 0.117; Lightness: 0.082; Volume: 0.120
Summary: 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.
Janhabi Behera is a student-cum-performer of Orissa Dance Academy. She is a recipient of the Singarmani title from Sur Singar Samsad, Mumbai; she has also received the Senior National Scholarship. With a rich and varied experience of having performed across the length and breadth of the country, she has been to Japan as a soloist and to North Korea for the 20th Spring Friendship Art Festival.
Here, she performs the text Mahisasura Mardini - the popular verse Aigirinandini, in praise of Durga, who vanquishes the buffalo demon Mahisasura.
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