Director: Deba Prasad Das
Duration: 00:12:48; Aspect Ratio: 1.778:1; Hue: 18.889; Saturation: 0.247; Lightness: 0.068; Volume: 0.139
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.
Rahul Acharya began his study of Odissi at the age of 4 with Guru Durga Charan Ranbir. In 2009, Acharya was the first male Odissi dancer to be honored with the Ustad Bismillah Khan Yuva Puraskar award from the Government of India. Since 2003, he has been an empanelled artist of the ICCR. He writes regularly for Narthaki, a dance website. He co-authored a book on Jagannatha Puri in 2009 and is currently working on a definitive volume about Odissi dance. He has performed and taught workshops around the world.
Sthai is an iconic Odissi piece in the Deba Prasad Das style of Odissi. It employs nritta, bols and sabdaswarapata, where meaningful words are recited in rhythmic phrases.
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