<p>More than 500 dancers from different corners of the country and abroad participated in a mega dance event here on Friday to register Odissi, the popular classical dance form of Odisha, into the Guinness Book of World Records. <br /><br /></p>.<p>The dancers included both female and male performers. Never before, so many dancers — 555 to be precise — had performed an Odissi group dance on a single stage simultaneously. The colourful show held at the Kalinga Stadium to flag off the week-long International Odissi Festival was organised by the Department of Culture in collaboration with a cultural associations.<br /><br />Representatives of the Guinness Book of World Records as well as other invitees including state culture minister Prafulla Samal were present to witness the event.<br /><br />“It is a proud moment for all of us here as well as lovers and admirers of Odissi dance from across the globe. Now whenever people go through Guinness Book of World Records they would come to know about Odissi and other things associated with it,” said Ratikanta Mohapatra, a well known Odissi performer. Ratikanta choreographed the event while Ramahari Das, head of government run Odissi Research Centre here orchestrated the music for the show. <br /><br />The Guinness officials are expected to certify the event within a week.</p>
<p>More than 500 dancers from different corners of the country and abroad participated in a mega dance event here on Friday to register Odissi, the popular classical dance form of Odisha, into the Guinness Book of World Records. <br /><br /></p>.<p>The dancers included both female and male performers. Never before, so many dancers — 555 to be precise — had performed an Odissi group dance on a single stage simultaneously. The colourful show held at the Kalinga Stadium to flag off the week-long International Odissi Festival was organised by the Department of Culture in collaboration with a cultural associations.<br /><br />Representatives of the Guinness Book of World Records as well as other invitees including state culture minister Prafulla Samal were present to witness the event.<br /><br />“It is a proud moment for all of us here as well as lovers and admirers of Odissi dance from across the globe. Now whenever people go through Guinness Book of World Records they would come to know about Odissi and other things associated with it,” said Ratikanta Mohapatra, a well known Odissi performer. Ratikanta choreographed the event while Ramahari Das, head of government run Odissi Research Centre here orchestrated the music for the show. <br /><br />The Guinness officials are expected to certify the event within a week.</p>
