RUDRAKSHYA FOUNDATION PERFORMANCE PROGRAM
Odissi Vilas, Yuva Bharati, and iGurukul Foundation are delighted to present an evening of Odissi performances by an all-male dance ensemble from the India-based Rudrakshya Foundation.
The founder and artistic director of Rudrakshya, Guru Shree Bichitrananda Swain,
has achieved worldwide recognition as an outstanding performer, brilliant choreographer, and an exceptional teacher. Widely acclaimed as one of today’s prominent choreographers of Odissi, he is known for his distinctive body of work that echoes his knowledge and understanding of dance as a medium of expression, and for having unleashed a wave of renewed dynamism in the presentation of Odissi.
Rudrakshya Foundation, which was founded in the year 2000, has emerged as one of the most successful training centers for aspiring dancers from India and abroad. Some of his students who lack the financial means to pursue dance as a profession are provided with free education, food, and lodging for as long as they wish to be in his gurukul-like institution.
Guru Swain and his students have performed in major cities across the world, including the US, UK, Canada, China, Brazil, Sri Lanka, Malaysia, South Korea, South Africa, Ivory Coast, and Nigeria.
This evening, we will have the pleasure of viewing performances by eight principal dancers from Rudrakshya Foundation, who along with Guruji, have been touring the US since last month:
1. Jagyandatta Pradhan
2. Dushasan Sahoo
3. Bichitra Behera
4. Santosh Ram
5. Samir Kumar Panigrahi
6. Surendra Pradhan
7. Sanjeev Kumar Jena
8. Rasmiranjan Swain
Additionally, Rudrakshya’s manager and mardala player Rohita Pradhan will be assisting with sound and lighting.
1. SURYA STUTEE
This is a Magalacharan (The invocation of a deity), which involves passionate devotion that is the essence of Bhakti (devoltional) Yoga. In Surya Stutee, the artist prays for the blessings of Surya, the resplendent Sun God.
“Oh, mighty son of Sage Kashyapa! Thou rises with a color as red as the hibiscus flower. Thy rays, bright and powerful, destroy the darkness and vanquish the forces of evil from this world. Oh, Divakar! The maker of the day, we offer our obeisance to you. You are Adideva, the first God. You are the source of light and energy. You ride a chariot drawn by seven magnificent horses and you hold a white lotus in your hand. Oh! Lord Surya, the source of all life, we salute you.”
The dance item ends with Surya Namaskar, a tribute to the Sun God through yogic postures.
Dance Choreography : Guru Sri Bichitrananda Swain
Music Composition : Guru Sri Ramahari Das
Rhythm Composition : Guru Sri Dhaneswar Swain
Notation : Guru Sri K. Ramarao Patra
Duration: 17:38 minutes
2. TAALA TARANG
Taal Tarang is a pure dance piece that portrays a beautiful blend of different percussion instruments — mardal, mrudanga, and khanjani (cymbal). This piece involves an innovative choreography that uses different percussion instruments to give a new dimension to Odissi music. Taal Tarang, meaning rhythmic waves, is choreographed maintaining and following all the techniques, grammar, movements, emotions, beauty, and grace of Odissi dance. Though it is based on one particular taal (rhythm) it has been composed with different chhandas (rhythmic patterns) and laya (speed).
Dance Choreography : Guru Sri Bichitrananda Swain
Music Composition : Guru Sri Ramahari Das
Rhythm Composition : Guru Sri Dhaneswar Swain
Notation : Guru Sri K. Ramarao Patra
Duration: 18:37 minutes
3. BHAVANI BHUANGAM STOTRA
A shloka (short verse) in praise of the glorious beauty of Goddess Bhavani, written by eighth-century saint and philosopher, Adi Shankaracharya. In this shloka, Shankaracharya says that by repeating the name of Bhavani with pure devotion, one can attain salvation and get rid of sorrow, sin, and fear. Bhavani, which literally means “giver of life,” is a ferocious form of the Goddess Parvati.
This dance, describes the many forms of Bhavani, inclduingGoddess Chandika and Devi Mahatmya.
Goddess Chandi is described as the Supreme Teality, a combination of Maha Lakshmi, Maha Kali, and Maha Saraswati.
“I bow to Goddess Bhavani, who is pure consciousness and ever-lasting bliss. She sits on a lotus seat with six chakras as support pillars. She resides bright and lustrous inside the Sushumna nadi of living beings that shines forth brilliantly as the life spirit. She melts the orb of the moon then extracts and consumes its light; the divine nectar. She is the symbol of the divine nectar, whose true nature is eternal bliss.
I worship that Goddess Bhavani who has a shining red body, glorious as innumerable rising suns. She is extremely beautiful and graceful. She is seated on the triangle in the midst of the white lotus.
Oh Mother! I praise your lotus face which bears musk on the cheeks, nostrils, eyebrows, and forehead. Your beautiful lips and graceful side glances can confer rewards.
I praise your head, radiant with the crest jewel and the moon, shining with the densely set white jasmine flowers, with swarms of bees swinging inside the moving braids.
Oh Bhavani! Salutations to you oh, Auspicious One! You are my refuge. Oh, Meritorious One! Oh! Compassion-Incarnate! Oh, One who cannot be understood by Brahma and others! Protect me from the fear and confusion of the forest of mundane existence.”
Raga : Gundakriya.
Tala : Eka Taali and Jati
Music Composition : Guru Ramahari Das
Rhythm Composition : Guru Dhaneswar Swain
Dance Choreography : Guru Bichitrananda Swain
Script Written by : Guru Sri K. Ramarao Patra
Dancers : Santosh Ram & Samir Kumar Panigrahi
Duration: 23 minutes
4. DINE NA DAKIBU
A special guest performance by Guru Shree Vishnu Tattva Das, the founder and artistic director of Odissi Vilas Dance School. Based in the Bay Area since the 1990s, Guru Vishnu Tattva Das has devoted his life to perfecting the art of Odissi.
Born and raised in Mumbai, India, from a very early age, Guru Vishnu had a deep-rooted interest in Vaishnava philosophy and teachings and he has dedicated his life to inculcating the same doctrines to his life and dance.
Guru Vishnu is recognized as one of India's prominent male Odissi dancers and choreographers and has received acclaim for his performances throughout India and other nations across the world, including Italy, Canada, Australia, Japan, and the US. He is especially known for his mastery of Abhinaya pieces, one of which — DINE NA DAKIBU — he will be presenting today.
Written by Odiya Vaishnav saint-poet Banamali Das, DINE NA DAKIBU is Odia pada which depicts Radha pleading to Sri Krishna’s flute to not call her name during the day as it distracts her concentration in her work at home.
The flute which connected her to Krishna comes from a thorny plant. So is the sound of the flute pierces her heart like the five arrows of Kamadeva, the god of love.
To resist the lure of the flute, Radha goes out disguised with her friends, but the flute always finds her. At the end, the poet Banamali reassures Radha: “Do not worry, for your Lord Sree Krishna will come to meet you soon.”
Choreography: Guru Kelucharan Mohapatra
Music : Pandit Bhubhaneshwar Mishra
Raga : Mishra Pilu
Tala : Tripata Tala
Duration: 13.06 minutes
5. KALI KRISHNA:
Yaha Krishna Saha Kaali, meaning he who is Lord Krishna is also Goddess Kaali. This beautiful composition explores the many similarities and contrasts between Lord Krishna and Goddess Kaali. While Krishna preserves the cosmos with compassion, Kaali maintains the cycle of birth and death with her ferocity.
Beginning with the primordial sound Om, followed by the hymns — Kleem for Krishna and Kreem for Kaali, the dance encompasses the devotee’s visions of the dissimilarities and similarities between Krishna and Kaali.
Krishna, the incarnation of Vishnu and Kaali, the incarnation of Shakti, descend upon Earth to eliminate evil and restore peace. Krishna, the Compassionate One and Kaali, the Fierce One, are respectively portrayed as Shyama and Shyama (or dark) in complexion. Darkness symbolizing the cosmos and devouring of evil.
Krishna lives in Vrindavan, surrounded by gentle white cows; Kaali, lives in the cremation ground surrounded by howling Jackals.
Krishna dances with gopikas (cowgirls) near the Yamuna River and Kaali dances in a sea of blood. Krishna is pitambari, clad in yellow robes and wears a garland of flowers;
Kaali is digambari, naked, and wears a garland of human skulls.
Krishna wears sandalwood tilak on his forehad and other ornaments;
Kaali wears vermillion on her forehead, a snake as her sacred thread, human bones as her waist band, and conch shells as bangles.
Krishna, is lotus-eyed and charming. He plays the flute to lure the gopikas, and is devoted to his beloved Radha; Kaali, with skull and sword in hand, is fearsome and awe-inspiring. She is the divine consort of Lord Shiva.
However, on deeper contemplation, the outward dichotomy between Kaali and Krishna ceases to exist and the devotee envisions both as complementary to and merging into each other.
Krishna and Kaali, Shyama and Shyamaa are aspects of the one and only truth — the Supreme’s maya or illusion, which is beyond human comprehension.
Dance Choreography : Guru Sri Bichitrananda Swain
Music Composition : Guru Sri Ramahari Das
Rhythm Composition : Guru Sri Dhaneswar Swain
Notation : Guru Sri K. Ramarao Patra
Duration: 29:32 minutes