Colourful beginning to Konark Dance Festival in Odisha

KONARK : The 30th edition of annual Konark Dance Festival was inaugurated at open air auditorium in the backdrop of the Sun Temple of Konark on Saturday. As many as 14 artistes of Guru Durga Charan Ranbir’s Bhubaneswar-based ‘Nrutyayan’ opened the festival. With a special focus on male dancers, Guru Ranbir choreographed his productions. 

The performers presented ‘tandava’ aspect of the dance which was followed by ‘Sthayee Nrutya’ embodying the nuances and grammar of Odissi, performed by both male and female dancers. 
His choreographic creations had prominent use of traditional ‘mudras’ as depicted in Abhinaya Chandrika and dominance of Sthayee ‘bhava’. Application of Sabda Swara Pata, where the dancer performs to just slokas and there is no music involved, was clear in his choreography. 

Odissi performance was followed by Bharatnatyam performance by Rama Vaidyanathan and her dancers. The festival was inaugurated by Tourism Minister Ashok Panda. It is being hosted by the Tourism Department and Odisha Sangeet Natak Akademi till December 5. The International Sand Art Festival was also inaugurated by the Minister on Chandrabhaga beach. The sand art festival, a part of the Konark Festival, has been designed to attract more tourists to Chandrabhaga beach.

This year, theme of the inaugural day was Odisha Hockey Men’s World Cup. Themes for the remaining four days will be heritage, environment, women empowerment and culture. As many as 101 sand sculptors including six from the US, Japan, the Netherlands, Spain, Sri Lanka and Italy, are participating in the festival, which is being curated by internationally reputed sand sculptor Sudarshan Pattnaik, who is also the brand ambassador of the event. A Crafts Mela is also being organised near the Chandrabhaga beach.