IIM Raipur students had the opportunity to witness the dance performance of Sangeet Natak Academy Fellow, Smt. Geeta Mahalik who is now counted as one the greatest danseuse present in contemporary classical dance scene and has devoted over 30 years of her life to Odissi. The occasion was the inauguration of IIM Raipur as the nodal center in Chhattisgarh for SPIC MACAY, the foundation which has done pioneering work to promote Indian Culture amongst the youth of the country. Smt Geeta Mahalik, dressed elaborately in the traditional attire for Odissi, first spoke about the heritage of classical dance in our country giving an outline about the various dance forms that prevail in our country. She than told how Odissi originated from the temples of Lord Jagannath at Puri where girls called Mahari would dance as a mark of devotion to Lord Jagannath. Smt Mahalik stressed on the importance of classical form of Odissi to maintain the dance in its purest form. The performance began with Mangalacharan, as a mark to devotion to Lord Jagannath and her Guru and also to the audience. She then pointed out the various forms of Odissi, namely Pallavi and Abhinaya. Her first performance on Pallavi on Raag Basant was complemented by drizzles outside. The audience was enthralled by her intricate gestures, complementing movement of the eyes and her lucid body movement. She than enacted the story from the life of Shri Krishna, in which he is first teased by Balrama that he is not the son of Yashoda, her depiction of Yashoda and her maternal affection towards Krishna moved everyone who were spell bound by the Bhaav that were so meticulously brought out by her. She later told that the sculptures inside temples of Jagganaath are the inspiration of various Mudras of Odissi. She also enacted the Emancipation of Kalia Serpent by Lord Krishna, the rage in her eyes while depicting Lord Krishna’s victory over Kalia was the highlight of her rendition. She then told the nuances of various dance forms of India, how Odissi was different from other classical dances and later she recollected her most memorable performance, which was at Brindavan where the audience was so moved by her performance of Radha pining for Krishna in full moon light that the people actually came and touched her feet for bringing Radha to life on stage.
The Director Mr B S Sahay, a student of founder of SPIC MACAY Dr Kiran Seth, thanked Smt Mahalik for giving providing students an opportunity to understand their roots and hoped that with the establishment of Nodal Center here at IIM Raipur the citizens of Raipur would get an opportunity to witness some of the greatest performances by legends of classical music in this country. The event coordinator Ranjit Ram, second year student of IIM Raipur, added that such events would now be organized with the help Bilaspur Chapter of SPIC MACAY and the students, both at school and college level will see such performances in the near future.
