Horizon series at Sampradaya Dance Creations, Mississauga 2017

My current interest is in understading Odissi movement and composition through the work I have learnt from Ambika Paniker and Aloka Panikar. Aloka Panikar began dancing and teaching Odissi in the 1960s with Guru Mayadhara Raut; she and her daughter Ambika currently teach Odissi in New Delhi and I have had the joy of learning from them since 2013.

In this 30-minute solo, I chose the opening stanza of Jayadeva's 'Gitagovinda' to do pushpanjali (offering of flowers) and bhumi pranam (salutaion to the earth) in place of a Mangalacharan, followed by Guru Mayadhara Raut's 'Rati sukha sare'. Concluding the recital with Batu was a somewhat unconventional choice from the point of view of the Odissi repertoire's structure, which in my mind worked well in the context.