Bhubaneswar, Aug 26: Odisha Dance Academy, Bhubaneswar presented a dance drama ‘Ashta Nayika’ yesterday at Xavier Institute of Business Management. It was a beautifully choreographed dance drama, based on the concept of ‘the eight conditions of a Nayika, which exhaust the emotional and circumstantial possibilities of a heroine’. On one hand from the stand point of rhetoric and the art of poetry and the drama, and on the other, from that of Erotic, Indian writers have long been interested in the classification of Nayaka and Nayika, which are developed in Sanskrit treatises, such as classical Bharatiya Natya Sastra, Sahitya Darpana etc.
To depict this Nayika-veda, the text has been used from immortal poem “Geeta Govinda” by Shree Jayadev and medieval Oriya poems written in 16th century. It states the triumph of the mystic love play of Radha – Madhav as the quintessence of Shree Jagannath consciousness that encapsulates madhura Bhakti, simple surrender and the intimate personal relation of the devotee and the divine.
The dance composition is based on “Rasa Lila” format of Orissa, which was developed in the advent of vaishnavism cult during Chaitanya Mahaprabhu. Rasa Lila as an art form of medieval Odissa, emphasizes on the highest sensibility, tenderest emotion and the most devoted attachment. Rasa celebrates nayika’s pain in separation in love, betrayal in love and pleasure in the divine union. The Music of the dance was composed by Pt.Bhubaneswar Mishra, Shri Prafulla Kar, Shri Ramahari Das and Dr.Subash Pani. Also, few traditional music forms were used to make it livelier. It was choreographed by Smt. Aruna Mohanty.
Aruna Mohanty herself led the dance as artiste and she was supported by artistes Madhumita Mohanty, Rojalin Mohapatra, Janhabi Behera, , Sridutta Bhol, Puja Jena, Mitali Priya Giri, K. Jyotirmayee Pattnaik, Shreepunya Mohanty & Arunima Acharya.
