The 27th edition of webaithaks was organized today by Pracheen Kaka Kendra on its official YouTube Channel, Facebook and Twitter Page. The programme was studded with odissi dance by young and endowed odissi dancer Rahul Varshaney from Guru Deba Prasad Gharana.
Rahul Varshney is a young and promising dancer of Guru Deba Prasad Das Gharana. He began his journey in Odissi dance at a tender age of 5 under the tutelage of Smt Jyoti Shrivastava (an eminent Odissi dancer). Rahul aims to gain expertise in the Tandava Compositions of Guru Deba Prasad Das Gharana so as to take Odissi classical dance one step forward towards revival of all the dance creations which are on the verge of extinction. Dance is his religion and this reverent passion can be seen in his performances. His dance is full of vigour and power which is commensurate with the dance in the masculine form. Rahul Varshney is a Nritya Visharad, an ICCR Empanelled artist, Graded artist from Delhi Doordarshan
Rahul commenced the programme with .Shiva Manglacharan. A performance of customarily, an invocatory piece offering prayers to Lord Jagganath and other deities. This particular mangalacharan is devoted to lord Shiva, which is set on ek taal in Raag- Darbari followed by Kalyani Pallavi. Just like the blossoming of a flower, it slowly builds up from slow graceful, lyrical movements in a crescendo to reach a fast tempo at the end. In this item the dominant mood and the subtle nuances of the raga are explored and translated into dance movements embellished with numerous sculptures, poses and fluid movements of Odissi. This particular piece is set to ek tal in Rag Kalyani. The programme was concluded with Moksha. Moksha means salvation, the ultimate release from the human life experience and the blissful integration of the human soul with god. Paralleling this concept, Moksha is the final item of any Odissi repertoire which signifies the total surrender of the dancer to god.
