World Dance Day celebrated with much fanfare

World Dance Day was celebrated at Rabindra Mandap on Monday with various dance forms of the state on display for this occasion. Odia Language, Literature and Culture department in association with Odisha Sangeet Natak Academy (OSNA) organised the event. World Dance Day is a global celebration of dance, created by the dance committee of International Theatre Institute, a partner of the performing arts wing of UNESCO. It is celebrated on the birth anniversary of Jean-Goerges Noverre, who has been credited for creating modern ballet dance.

Secretary of OSNA, Bijay Kumar Jena, said that this day is celebrated across the globe and in Odisha. It has been observed in all district headquarters and blocks. “The day is meant to create awareness of dance and encourage participation and education in dance through events and festivals. We organised this event at Rabindra Mandap where an Odissi dance troupe from Bhubaneswar performed the classical dance form, a troupe from Bolangir staged Sambalpuri dance and a folk art group from Banki presented Chaitikala folk dance,” said Jena.

He also added that the importance of dance, music and theatre can’t be ignored in human society and these important days must be celebrated with much fanfare. “Since the elections are going on, we didn’t make it a grand event. Instead we kept it simple with few dance troupes performing on this occasion,” said the secretary.
Even the dancers were happy to perform on stage on this occasion. “We have been performing in various events and festivals, but this is a day dedicated to the celebration of dance. Being dancers, we are thrilled to perform here,” said Akanksha Das, a dancer.