A youthful ode to the legendary dancer
Sanjukta Panigrahi (fondly known as Sanju Nani) is probably the next legendary face of Odissi dance after the doyen Guru Kelucharan Mohapatra. Fans and dance connoisseurs have always identified her with the dance and vice versa.
On her 67th birth anniversary on August 24, Smitalay, a dance school in Mumbai will pay her a tribute by hosting a festival Yuva Mahotsav in her memory on August 27. Smitalay has been hosting the festival since 2004 and has showcased different Indian classical dance styles every year. This year the festival will feature Upaasana Academy of Indian Classical Dance by Jayashree Nair, Dr. Jayashree Rajagopalan’s Nrithyodaya and Dr . Sandhya Purecha’s Bharat College of Fine Arts and Culture, who will present Bharatnatyam.
Jhelum Paranjape, Odissi dancer and director, Smitalay says that she found Sanju Nani the most encouraging person during her course of training in Orissa. “I remember how she would tell me to improvise on certain movements and for a senior artiste like her it was quite a thing to talk to juniors like us. Her strong point was the way she pushed you forward to believe in yourself and give your best,” says Paranjape. She adds that in her memory she decided to host a youth festival since she was very youth-oriented and encouraged them all the time.
“Since 2004 we showcased different dance styles. Since we don’t have dance festivals for groups, we decided to start a festivals for groups. Due to budget constraints we cannot have it on a lavish scale, but this is a sincere ode nevertheless,” says Paranjape.
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