Devotion, perseverance and commitment have placed Aruna Mohanty as the finest among Odissi dancers of her generation. Nurtured under the able guidance of Guru Gangadhar Pradhan, Aruna especially excels in the abhinaya aspect of Odissi. She has been a student and Secretary of Orissa Dance Academy. Her unique skill and versatility make her the recipient of many awards and accolades, including the Mahari Award 1997, Sanjukta Panigrahi Memorial National Award 2001, Fellowship by Ministry of HRD, Govt. of India, and an award for her contribution to the field of Odissi Dance, from the Utkal University, orissa. Apart from dance, Aruna has also established herself as an excellent choreographer. Some of the items in her repertoire include the dance ballet “Shrusti O Pralay”, “Varsha Abhisara”, “Shravan Kumar”, “Samrat Kharavela” , “Kanchi Abhijan”, “Krupanidhana” & “Krushna Saranam”, etc. Widely traveled to countries like Canada, USA, South America and some of the European countries, she is the advisor-member of Central Sangeet Natak Akademi, New Delhi. Currently she is conferred for the Central Sangeet Natak Akademi Award for the year -2010 by the Govt. of India. And Govt. of Orissa has appointed her to be the Vice-President of State Sangeet Natak Akademi.
Gatha Odissi - from the temple to the stage
History is not scripted; it gets created over the ages. It transforms itself according to the tides of life and times. Therefore, from the point of view of the present, how does one view the entire panorama of Odissi Dance, which has traveled through an arduous journey of nearly two thousand years?
After the sunrise, comes the dark hour of the sunset. But the rhythmic foot falls of Odissi dance, however, continue to reverberate from within the dark corridors of history.
Around the middle of Ninteenth century a new resolve paves the way for the resurrection of the flagging traditions of Odissi Dance. The danseuse damsels break out of their stony incarnation from temple-walls and metamorphose into life. In this hour of revival, the great Gurus of our times create a whole new grammar of Odissi. The genesis of Mangalacharan, Pallavi, Sthayi, Abhinaya and Moksha, which form the superstructures of Odissi, spring up from the sub-structures of the allied art forms and folk forms of Odisha such as Mahari, Gotipua, Sakhi Nata, Raasa and Leela.
Through brief narrations and symbolic images Odisha Dance Academy spins the story of transformation and resurgence of Odissi Dance spanning from the Jagannath Temple of Puri right up to the contemporary stage.
Conceptualized by - Guru Aruna Mohanty
Kedar Mishra
Music composition - Guru Bijay Kumar Jena
Rhythm composition - Guru Dhaneswar Swain
Guru Bijay Kumar Barik
Musicians :
Mardala - Guru Ddhaneswar Swain
Guru Bijaya Kumar Bari
Vocal - Harapriya Swain
Nazia Alam
Rupak Kumar Parida
Violin - Ramesh Chandra Das
Flute - Srinibash Satpathy
Sitar - Swapneswar Chakravorty
Dance Choreography- Guru Aruna Mohanty
Dancers :
Odissi Dance : Ramesh Ch. Jena, Madhusmita Mohanty, Yudhisthir Nayak,
Pabitra Ku. Pradhan, Sridutta Bhol, Janhabi Behera, Pankaj Ku. Pradhan,
Pravat Ku. Swain, Arupa Gayatri Panda , Prashant Ku. Behera, Bijan Ku.
Palei , Pragati Das & Rudra Prashad Swain.
Gotipua Dance : Sriram Chahatray, Suryakanta Samantaray,Arupananda Pradhan, Santosh Biswal & Rama Pradhan
