Aug 20: Recital by Leesa Mohanty, Mumbai

RASA TARANGINI

AN EVENING OF ODISSI DANCE RECITAL
BY
LEESA MOHANTY

Venue: Little Theatre, NCPA, Mumbai
Date: 20th August, 2009
Time: 6.30 PM


Leesa presents Rasa Tarangini.

She begins her performance with Managalacharan.

Mangalacharan is an invocatory item paying salutations to a specific deity and finally concludes with three salutations to the Mother Earth, to the Guru and to the august audience. Todays Managalacharan is called the Krishna Tandava and is dedicated to Lord Krishna.

The second item is Asta Naayikaa; depicting the eight emotions of a heroine. Abhisarika, Vasakasajjika, Vipralabdha, Virahotkantitha, Proshitabhartika, Khandita, Kalahantarita, Swadheenapatika.






Abhisarika - One who boldly goes out to meet her lover

Vasakasajjika - One who is preparing for the arrival of her beloved, by decorating herself and her surroundings, to provide a pleasant welcome for her lover.

Vipralabdha - One who is disappointed that her lover has not turned up at the tryst as he promised.

Virahotkanthita - One who is separate from her lover and is yearning for reunion.

Prositabhartika - One who is suffering in the absence of her lover, who is away on a long journey

Khandita - One who is angry with her lover for causing disappointment.

Kalahantarita - One who is repenting her hastiness in quarrelling with her lover, which has resulted in their separation.

Swadheenapatika - One who is proud of her husband’s love and loyalty.

Pallavi - Pallavi is a pure dance item, which begins slowly and gradually gains momentum, blooming into complex patterns highlighting rhythmic variations. This pallavi is based on Raag-Kalyan.

Nabarasa - Nabarasa depicts the nine sentiments, namely, Sringara (Erotic), Veera (Heroic), Karuna (sorrow), Adbhuta (Marvellous), Hasya (comic), Bhayanaka (terrible), Bibhatsa (odious), Roudra (furious) and Shanta (peaceful).

Moksha - The final dance of Joy and Release dedicated to Shakti



About Leesa

Leesa, a senior disciple of Guru Durga Charan Ranbir, brings to art lovers the inimitable Odissi style of the late Guru Deba Prasad Das. She will be presenting the original works of the great master, whos artistic influence has spread across Europe, Asia and the USA through tireless effort of Guru Durga Charan Ranbir, his torch bearing disciple.

Leesa has performed widely in India and is regarded as a dancer with imaginative prowess. Her forte is abhinaya or expressive dance, and has created, choreographed and directed many dance productions. She directed a film on dance, Milan Madhuri; a documentary on the Late Guru Deba Prasad Das in 2001 as well as conceptualized and anchored a documentary entitled Idioms of Oriya Culture” in 2006.

Leesa has to her credit Best Child Artiste Award (1984) from Government of Orissa, Rajdhani Ratna Award (2001, New Delhi), Film Media Award (2001) BY UP Photo Film Association, Title of Rasaamruta Sambardhini (2007) by the Temple of Fine Arts, Kualalumpur. She is a recipient of the senior merit scholarship from the HRD Ministry, Government of India and also a senior auditioned artiste at the Doordarshan Kendra.

She is the Executive Director of Bansi Bilas. Bansi Bilas is a non-profit cultural organization which was established in 1983 with the mandate to preserve and propagate Odissi, the indigenous dance form of Orissa. The foundation organizes mega festivals, bringing together dancers and art lovers from across the globe, produces full length feature films/ documentaries and runs dance academies, all to promote Odissi among the general population.