Orissa and Odissi Dance

Orissa is internationally renowned for its rich art and culture. Odissi dance is one among the most praised classical dances which is originated from Orissa.The dance perform infront of the Lords in various temples of Orissa.
The rhythm, the bhangis and mudras used in Odissi dance have a distinctive quality of their own. Odissi dance deals largely with the love theme of Radha and Krishna....

Pallavi: The Odissi Exponent

By Manas Das
She may be relatively new in the field, but Pallavi Sethi certainly has the ability to enthrall her audience. Pallavi is a phenomenon in the making in Odissi dance.

“I want to spread this classical art throughout the world. Pallavi, an ardent admirer and also the first to perform disciple of Sonal Mansingh, says Pallavi has displayed her graceful performance at different functions in and out of India, and everywhere she her performance has been appreciated.

The latest performance of Pallavi was in the closing ceremony of National Youth Festival at Hyderabad.

A veteran of over a hundred of stage shows, Pallavi remembers her first out state programme in Dehradun’s Doon School, Indira Gandhi Research Institute, Rashtriya Indian Military College. These programmes were a huge success and she was excited after seeing the overwhelming responses from the viewers. Organized by SPIC- MACAY, the programme named as Virasat.

On the occasion of 52nd anniversary of india’s Republic, she performed a programme called MUKTI. A major choreography of CICD, from August 12th to 13th 2004, was celebration of indian identity, in the convention hall of hotel Ashoka, where former Priminister Mr. Atal Bihari Vajpayee, Former Deputy Priminister L. K. Advani and former Cultural Minister Jagmohan had graced the occasion.

She has received adulation outside india too. Her first away performance in 2001 was at Galle, Candy and Colombo in Sri Lanka. Sponsored by Indian Council for Cultural Relation (ICCR), NewDelhi, she cherished the moment of the visit.

She has fond of remembrance of the prized moment of her life. The programme – SADHANA- organized for Pallavi by her mentor, idol and teacher Sonal Mansingh, who she says, has shaped her as a dancer. It was a solo Odissi performed by Sonal for Pallavi before the audience on 10th April 2004 at Sriram Center, New Delhi. “I also performed and there, former President Mr. R. Venkat Raman was among the audience admired after seeing my performance that the talent inside me is now comparable to my teacher,” says Pallavi.

Pallavi is a recipient of National Scholarship from department of culture, govt. of India in 1998.

Odissi, it seems is in her genes. Daughter of renowned Odissi singer Sangeet Acharya Bankim Chandra Sethi, her father inspired Pallavi and Sonal Mansingh’s training is the cause to give a new shape of her life. Even her grand father and her great grand father were into Odissi song and dance, though not professionals.

She has learned the nuances of Odissi for the last 18years but under her association with Sonal’s of 12years.
Is she scared to dance with Sonal? “Not at all, Rather I feel proud to be with her, I feel privilleged,” she says.

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Manas Das
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