Madhavi Mudgal Showcases Genius of Odissi Legend Kelucharan Mohapatra

NEW DELHI:
The sublime genius of Odissi guru and dancer Kelucharan Mahapatra was seen in action through the performance of Madhavi Mudgal who presented a few of the late master’s choreographies at the conclusion of the Raza Foundation’s Mahima Festival of classical music and dance at Triveni Kala Sangam here.
The two-day Festival hosted in memory of iconic Modern Indian painter Sayed Haider Raza organized to “highlight the contribution and the presence of the guru in the Indian tradition” began with the Sitar perform
ance of Ustad Shujaat Khan and Koodiyattam by Kapila Venu. The two- day Fest, ‘Mahima’ concluded with a Hindustani khayal recital by noted vocalist Ashwini Bhide Deshpande followed by renowned dancer Madhavi Mudgal’s Odissi performance.
Mudgal, credited with bringing a greatly refined sensibility to Odissi and who has received critical acclaim for her choreographies, chose to present last evening the works by Kelucharan Mohapatra in the way that he conceived them.
“I am thankful to Ashok Vajpeyi for organising the festival that enabled me to present some of the rare gems of Odissi. For the past 10 or so years the demand for new or more contemporary works has pushed these classics away into near obscurity,” Mudgal said.
Mudgal, who began training under Guru Harekrishna Behera and gave her first public performance at the age of 4, was later taken under the wing by Kelucharan Mohapatra.
Her Guru, the legendary dancer Kelucharana Mohapatra is credited with the revival of the Odissi in the 1960s and 1970s and was instrumental in getting the dance the coveted ‘classical’ tag.
“During the 1960s and 70s when Bharatnatyam and Kathak were more renowned, Guruji and his disciple Sanjukta Panigrahi popularised Odissi by performing in India and abroad. I was fortunate to be with him till 2004, the year he died,” Mudgal said before her performance.
Mudgal began the recital with the customary manglacharan, invoking the blessing of Lord Ganesha. The music was composed by her father, the late classical musician and vocalist Vinay Chandra Maudgalya. The stunning performance was followed by a pallavi that was choreographed by Mohapatra, himself with help from his wife Lakshmi Mahapatra and set to music by Bubneshwar Mishra.
Mudgal presented an ashtapadi after that. “Guruji perfected the ashtapadi and received praise for it from none other than Rukmini Devi Arundale, the very same Rukmini who had once dismissed Odissi as a classical dance form. In 1986 when Guruji presented an Ashtapadi it prompted Rukmini Devi to wish that she was a 16 year-old again so that she could learn it from him,” Mudgal said.
After enacting a sequence of Radha describing Lord Krishna’s visit to her disguised as an old woman who applies alta, Mudgal concluded with an elaborate version of ‘Moksha’ which marked the finale of the powerful Odissi dance recital.
“Guruji was a perfectionist and used to work out all the steps in a performance beginning from the entry to the exit and nothing could be changed. Guruji also loved to play the parkwaj and for me, he created the slightly longer moksha,” Mudgal said.
Prior to Mudgal’s performance there was a stirring khayal recital by Dr Ashwini Bhide Deshpande who presented two pieces, concluding with the night raga Bageshri with two bandishes.
Deshpande, trained under her mother, the noted singer Manik Bhide in the intricacies and traditions of the Jaipur-Atrauli Gharana and later under Pandit Ratnakar Pai. Accompanying her on stage were two of her students, whom she encouraged to sing along with her, giving impromptu lessons and encouraging them with a lot of appreciative ‘Kya Baats’. The guru in her true style encouraged her shishyas to sing with her.
Meanwhile, Ashok Vajpeyi, the Executive Trustee of the Raza Foundation also addressed the audience. “This event ‘Mahima’ is the second in the many programmes the Foundation is planning to host in keeping with the artist Raza’s desire to “support the young and upcoming artistes in all fields of art. We h
ad also organised ‘Uttaradhikar’ featuring young disciples last year,” Vajpeyi said.