“It’s my unending love and devotion for Lord Jagannath that connects me to Odissi. Odissi dance is incomplete without Lord Jagannath. The first archaeological evidence of this dance was seen in a cave engraving of a dancer near Udayagiri. While performing, I get completely involved in the dance and enter a different world where I communicate with Lord Jagannath. And this feeling gives me immense pleasure.”
Bhubaneswar: Since time immemorial, the Odissi dance form with a spiritual grandeur has been influencing the Indian cultural scene. It continues to exude its own aura, mood and character, says acclaimed Bhubaneswar-based Odissi dancer Arupa Gayatri Panda who has been selected by Sangeet Natak Akademi to receive Ustad Bismillah Khan Yuva Puraskar-2022 as an acknowledgement of her achievements as a promising young artiste.
Being a dynamic and award-winning dancer, she has been consistently adjudged as one of the most promising young Odissi dancers of her generation.
Apart from teaching Odissi dance for the last two decades, Arupa has widely travelled and performed at some of the world’s highly prestigious platforms and festivals in America, Canada, Belgium, Germany, China, Mauritius, Bangkok, Cambodia, Vietnam, Myanmar, Kuwait, Qatar, Bahrain, Muscat and Dubai, Abu Dhabi (UAE) to promote Odissi dance and Odia culture. She is currently teaching at the Department of Visual & Performing Arts at Sri Sri University.
She has performed in almost all major dance festivals in India, including the Ananya Festival, Khajuraho Dance Festival, Nrutyagram Festival in Bangalore, and Konark Festival. She is a Grade-A artiste of Doordarshan and has performed several times on the channel. Apart from running an Odissi dance institution ‘Nrutya Rupa,’ she also works as an assistant professor at Sri Sri University.
In a candid conversation with Ommcom News Arupa, who has been selected for Ustad Bismillah Khan Yuva Puraskar-2022, said, the classical dance form has completed her and given meaning to her existence. It connects her with God.
It won’t be an exaggeration to say that Arupa literally lives Odissi. Her supple and graceful movements and eloquent expressions are her USPs.
Recollecting her childhood days, Arupa said, “I was barely three when fell in love with dance. I used to dance sometimes for two hours at a stretch. Seeing my keen interest in dance, my father asked an Odissi dancer named Puspa Ranjan Mangraj to teach me the classical dance form. That’s how I began.”
Arupa later joined the dance school of Sarita Mishra to hone her skills. When she was in Class IX, she received the Sanjukta Panigrahi scholarship.
However, she got many opportunities to showcase her dance prowess after she joined the Odisha Dance Academy run by the late Padmashree Gangadhar Pradhan in 1999. Arupa owes a lot to the Odisha Dance Academy and the incredible dancers and teachers there who taught her to aim for the stars.
“Odissi exponents like Guru Madhusmita Mohanty and Aruna Mohanty guided me while Padmashree Guru GangadharPradhan supervised my learning at the Academy. Simply by being such exquisite dancers, they set a standard for me that I will always strive to reach. I will always be grateful for everything I have learnt and continue to learn from them”, said Arupa smilingly.
How do you connect yourself to Odissi? To this question, she responded, “It’s my unending love and devotion for Lord Jagannath that connects me to Odissi. Odissi dance is incomplete without Lord Jagannath. The first archaeological evidence of this dance was seen in a cave engraving of a dancer near Udayagiri. While performing, I get completely involved in the dance and enter a different world where I communicate with Lord Jagannath. And this feeling gives me immense pleasure.”
“I was performing ‘Madhurashtakam’ at a programme in Mumbai and Ritha Devi, a luminous dance personality, an extraordinary scholar and a celebrated critic had graced the programme as chief guest. She was in love with my performance a lot and told me, ‘Your performance made me feel as if a ‘mahari’ is performing in front of Lord Jagannath.’ I was overwhelmed by her words.”
Arupa, who is known for her expressions and stage presentation, says her forte is ‘abhinaya.’
On getting the Ustad Bismillah Khan Yuva Puraskar Award award, she said, “This award is not just a personal triumph but also a testament to the collective effort and love of everyone who has been a part of my journey. I am deeply grateful for every one of you who has supported me along the way.”
“As I embark on this new chapter as a recipient of the Ustad Bismillah Khan Yuva Puraskar Award, I am filled with a sense of purpose and determination to continue contributing to the world of Odissi dance. With humility and gratitude, I accept this honour and pledge to uphold its values to the best of my ability. Thank you all for your unwavering support and belief in me” she signed off.
By Rashmi Rekha Das
