The stage is set and the men and women
from Odisha are all excited to perform for a Goan audience. Some have performed
earlier while most of the dance groups are new to the state. The Directorate of
Art and Culture, in collaboration with Odisha Sangeet Natak Akademi,
Bhubaneshwar, Odisha, is organising a cultural programme on folk dances of
Odisha in Goa under the inter-state cultural exchange programme scheme. Around
60 artistes from Odisha are presenting folk dances and music of the state.
Four groups will be performing today at
the concluding day of the festival at Ravindra Bhavan, Sanquelim at 6.30pm. The
four dances are Odissi Dance, Sambalpuri Dance, Singhari Dance and Gotipua
Dance, each with over ten members in the group.
“Every time I come to Goa I feel like I’ve
come to a foreign country and it gives me more joy to perform here,” says
Chitrasena Swain, who is heading a group of 14 artists, nine dancers and five
musicians. The group, representing students from Aradhana Dance Academy,
Bhubaneshwar had previously performed at Lok Utsav in January this year. “Gotipua has
been performed in Orissa for centuries by young boys who dress as women to
praise Jagannath and Krishna. The dance is executed by a group
of boys who perform acrobatic figures inspired by the life
of Radha and Krishna,” says Chitrasena who has been training ten boys
through his academy for the past five year. “It takes a lot of hard work as the
boys have to learn the dance from their childhood. The age group of the dancers
is 7-10 years,” adds Chitrasena.
Another folk dance that will be
performed is Sambalpuri Dance which is performed in 11 districts of Western
Odisha. Training in this dance form for the past 34 years, Ranjan Sahoo is
leading the 14-member group in Goa. “This is one of the main dances from Odisha
and it brings together the artistes from the rural belt of Odisha,” says
Ranjan. The group currently performing in Goa has nine boys and five girls.
“This is the first time we are performing in Goa. This dance requires intricate
dance moves and expressions are of utmost importance. The artistes from the
rural belt have learnt this form of dance since childhood and perform it with
ease, but training the educated masses from the city is very difficult and
requires a lot of hard work. The language of the dance is completely different and
it’s only through thorough practice and training that it can be achieved,” says
Ranjan.
The other two forms of dances that will
be performed are Singhari Tribal dance which has 18 members and Odissi dance
which has ten members. Odissi dance is a combination of tandava and lasya dances,
which is often compared to the gentle sea waves which caress the beaches of
Odisha.
