International Odissi Festival 2011: Sonal Mansingh presents excerpts of the Oriya Bhagavata
Director: Sonal Mansingh
Duration: 00:17:09; Aspect Ratio: 1.778:1; Hue: 8.417; Saturation: 0.405; Lightness: 0.036; Volume: 0.399
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.
Sonal Mansingh is a senior Odissi and Bharatanatyam dancer, teacher and choreographer. She founded the Centre for Indian Classical Dances in New Delhi in 1977. She had her Odissi training under Guru Kelucharan Mohapatra. She is the recipient of many awards and honours. She is strongly interested in interdisciplinary dance work.
She performs excerpts of the Oriya Bhagavata, translated from the original in Sanskrit.
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