Director: Aruna Mohanty
Duration: 00:20:50; Aspect Ratio: 1.778:1; Hue: 22.404; Saturation: 0.203; Lightness: 0.082; Volume: 0.108
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.
Nurtured under the able guidance of Guru Gangadhar Pradhan, Aruna Mohanty has been a student and Secretary of Orissa Dance Academy. She is a recipient of various awards, including the Mahari Award 1997, Sanjukta Panigrahi Memorial National Award 2001, Fellowship by Ministry of HRD, Govt. of India, and an award for her contribution to the field of Odissi Dance, from Utkal University, Orissa. Apart from dance, Aruna has also established herself as a choreographer. Some of the items in her repertoire include the dance ballet “Shrusti O Pralay”, “Varsha Abhisara”, “Shravan Kumar”, “Samrat Kharavela” and “Kanchi Abhijan” etc. She is an advisor-member of Central Sangeet Natak Akademi, New Delhi.
Bhumisuta is an Oriya abhinaya choreographed by Aruna Mohanty. It examines Sita's thoughts after the great war of Lanka, when she is asked to prove her chastity. It was created in collaboration with dramaturg Kedar Mishra.
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