Dance is a stress-buster and a form of meditation where age does not become a factor, Odissi dancer Geeta Rao was describing the art form at her performance at the IIWC Hall recently. Geeta, who learnt Kathak from the age of seven, got fascinated by Odissi after her marriage. She then did her ‘visharad’ in Orissa. She has been in field for 20 years and has given over 100-odd performances.

Describing Odissi, she said, “it is also called the dance of gods, It is that intrinsically passionate style of dance which grew from the traditional temple dance.” She presented five performances at the event including ‘Mangalacharana’, the opening item which translates to invocation. ‘Abhinaya’ based on Lord Krishna’s exploits and ‘Dashavatar’, the 10 incarnations of Lord Vishnu came next. Geeta feels that “performing Odissi dance in front of Kannadigas gives a different experience. Language does not become a problem if feelings and expressions are conveyed to the audience.” Geeta has been trying to uplift the status of women in the society through dance by raising her voice against social evils.

“I try to blend Odissi dance with Carnatic classical, vocal and film songs without disturbing the flavour of folk,” she says. She also performed the ‘Sambalpuri’ dance which is the folklore of Western Orissa and semi-classical dance known as ‘kisna’. Her themes are generally from mythology and social evils in the society. She focuses on  teaching dance to housewives who have lost their passion for dance after marriage and to bring out the best in them. “We can have our own culture but there must be communication across all states in the country, that’s how nationality builds,” she said.

Geeta has also performed folk dances of India extensively in western Orissa and now excels in teaching and choreographing dances for shows and field events for Coal India limited and NTPC. She constantly tries to promote classical and folk dance as the most beautiful of all art forms.

Shreelatha Nayak Kodialbail