International Odissi Festival 2011: Rasmi Raj performs Manikyaveena
Duration: 00:11:34; Aspect Ratio: 1.778:1; Hue: 22.310; Saturation: 0.417; Lightness: 0.105; Volume: 0.130; Words per Minute: 14.596
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.
Rasmi Raj is a graduate of the Utkal Sangeet Mahavidyalaya and holds a diploma in yogic sciences. She trained at the Orissa Dance Academy and continued her training at Nrityagram. She also performed with the Nrityagram Ensemble for several years. She then worked with the Rudrakshya Foundation and is now an independent artist.
She performs Manikyaveena, an invocatory mangalacharan describing the beauty and virtues of the goddess Saraswati.
Nrityagram
Orissa Dance Academy
Saraswati Vandana
goddess
invocation
Kelucharan Mohapatra gharana
mangalacharan
Rudrakshya
stuti
Bhubaneswar, Orissa
rasmi
The dancer enters.
Verse:
Kadachit kalindi tata vipina sangeeta kavarau
Mudabhiri nari vadana kamala swadamadhupa
Ramashambhubrahma surapatiganesharchitapadau
Jagannatha swami nayana pathagami bhavatu me (x3)
Translation:
At one time, in the forest on the banks of the Yamuna, that resounded with music,
In joyous ecstasy he would be found, like a bee sucking nectar, at the lotus lips of the gopis.
Now all the other gods worship his feet.
He Jagannatha! May you be the object of my vision.
Bhoomi pranam - Salutation to the earth, asking to be forgiven for stamping on it.
Verse:
manikyaveenamupalalayantim
madalasam manjula vagavilasam
mahendra neeladyuti komalangim
matanga kanyam manasa smarami
Verse:
chaturbhuje chandra kala vatamse
kuchonnate kumkuma raga shobhe
pundrekshu pasankusa (pushpa bana haste)x2
namaste jagadeka mata x2
Verse:
mata marakata shyama matangi madhushalini
kataksham (?) kalyani kadamba vana vasini
Verse:
jaya matanga tanaye jaya neelotpala dyute
jaya sangita rasike jaya leelasuka priye
Sabha pranam - A rhythmic piece of dance with the hands mostly in Anjali hasta, the sabha pranam ends with trikhandi pranam, a set of three salutations, where the dancer pays her obeisance to the divine, the guru and salutes the audience, specifically in that order.
sabha pranam
trikhandi pranam
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