Sutra Foundation Malaysia and Tridhara staged ‘Radhe! Radhe!’ in Bhubaneswar during Guru Debaprasad Award Festival 2025, celebrating Odissi heritage
Kapilas Bhuyan
Sutra Foundation, Malaysia in association with Tridhara presented ‘Radhe! Radhe’ at Rabindra Mandap, Bhubaneswar on 25th October during the 19th Guru Debaprasad Award Festival 2025.
During this round of India Tour of Sutra, the character of Krishna was rendered by the Odia dancer Jagyandatta Pradhan, to assail the challenging main role of performing ‘Krishna’ for the first time. And Jagyan performed it well, dancing with elegance and confidence!
The recital of the dance was in adherence of the spirit of the folkdance Radha Premalila of South Odisha displaying the potential of our age-old traditions in performing arts. It was attended by many Odissi aficionados that included Padma Shri Ileana Citaristi, Pt Nityananda Misra, Guru Sujata Misra, artist Ramahari Jena and many others.
Even the Radha Prema Leela group from Ganjam came to see the transformation of their folk form on Rabindra Mandap stage. Fortunately, ‘Radhe! Radhe!’ rose to the occasion. The audience experienced an Odissi production that returned to its source, to the roots of tradition, even as it blossomed into a contemporary Odissi ‘classical’ creation, that came alive larger, bolder on the Rabindra Mandap stage.
The festival honoured with the Guru DebaprasadLifetime Achievement Award to Guru LaxmidharRaula for his dedication to Rama Leela, Pandit Laxmikant Palit for Odissi Music, Guru Dhaneswar Swain for Mardal and Chennai-based artist/writer VV Ramani.
Sutra Lighting Designer Sivarajah Natarajan along with Guru Niranjan Rout (Odissi Dance) and Guru Judhisthir Nahak (Radha Prema Leela) bestowed upon with the Guru Debaprasad Award 2025.
‘Radhe! Radhe!’ enthralled audience and was featured as part of a themed ‘Indo Japan Malaysia Friendship’ Festival’. The 2-day festival showcased both dancers from Japan and Malaysia.
Earlier to the recitals in Bhubaneswar and Cuttack (at Saheed Bhawan on 26th October) Sutra during this India Tour performed Radhe! Radhe! In Kolkata on 24th October, and finally, they performed in Delhi on 28th October and left an indelible memory among the audiences.
(The author is a senior journalist, critic and National Award-winning Filmmaker. Views are personal.)