An Odissi rendition of the famous music score of Maurice Ravel, which has inspired choreographers and dancers all over the world.

Music by: Maurice Ravel
Choreography by Dr Ileana Citaristi
Year of production: 2007

A joyful item of pure dance. The two dancers keeps pace with the creative interplay of rhythm and voice of the Hindustani musical composition.
 

Raga: Yeman Kalyani
Tala: Adi Tala
Music by: Taufiq Qureshi
Choreography by Dr Ileana Citaristi
Year of production: 2007

Saraha

SARAHA, is inspired by the tale of Saraha, the founder of the Tantric discipline in the Tibetan region. Saraha means ‘one whose arrow is shot’. Saraha is in search of a master; he symbolises the man who has lost the contact with the natural part of himself. ‘ The learned has to go to the vital. The plastic has to go to the real’ as Osho says. Saraha finds the real master not in the learned or in the ascetic but in a low cast woman who is totally absorbed in cutting an arrow-shaft in a market place.. The arrow ready, the woman, closing one eye and opening the other, assumes the posture of aiming at an invisible target. There is no target, still she is wholly absorbed in aiming the arrow. The aiming itself is the target. The non dual is the aim Realizing this, seeing into the woman’s action, Saraha totally surrenders to her. They celebrate their union, dancing together in a cremation ground. Where death is, they celebrate life. This is the beauty of Tantra- it joins together the opposites, the contradictories.

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Music by: Sri Anwar Khurshid
Choreography by Dr Ileana Citaristi
Year of production: 2006

Tantra (duet)

The item has three sloka from the Saundaryalahari, the tantric text dedicated to the female energy. This item visually represents the ascent of the kundalini in its snake-like form from the Muladhara chakra upto the Sahasrara or the thousand petalled lotus where she sports with the male principle and her descend to her original abode, the Muladhara where she turns herself into a serpentine coil.

Music composition: Sri Gopal Panda
Dance composition: Dr Ileana Citaristi
Date of composition: 2006
 

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Kapalika Shiva (trio)

The item is in honour of Kapalika Shiva, by whose destructive dance the Universe is renovated at the end of each yuga, who, out of grief for Sati’s death, destroys the sacrifice of her father Dakshya; who enjoys playing with Parvati on the pick of Mount Kailasa and who makes the skulls by which is garlanded, resounding during his dance. To that Kapalika, whose wife is the black goddess Kali and whose neck is black like the river Yamuna, the dancers ask for prosperity and blessing.

Dance composition: Dr Ileana Citaristi
Raga: Malkaus, Tala: Jhampa
Music composition: Sri Profulla Kar
Date of composition: 2003

Shivasthakam (group)

In this item the dancers pay homage to Lord Shiva, the Creator and Destroyer of the universe,, from whose hair the river Ganga is flowing, whose body is adorned with snakes and skulls and whose wife is goddess Parvati. The Sanskrit poem is written by the saint poet Shankaracharya.

Dance composition: Dr. Ileana Citaristi
Music composition: Sri Ramesh Chandra Das, Guru Banamali Maharana
Date of composition: 2004

Pallavi (group)

The pallavi is an item of ‘nritta’ or pure dance where lyrical music is interwoven into the fabric of body movements. A soft blossoming forth of music and dance ending in a crescendo. The pallavi is a distinctive item of Odissi dance. It is a creative elaboration which flows along and heightens the unique character of a raga. It works up effects mainly through rhythmic variations and cyclic patterns.

Dance composition: Dr. Ileana Citaristi
Raga Kolavati and tala Tripata
Music composition: Sri Ghanashyama Panda, Guru Banamali Maharana
Date of composition: 2003

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Abhinaya: Ganga-Yamuna (Duet)
The confluence of turbulent Jamuna and luminous Ganga is described by poet Kalidasa in the XIII canto of his poem 'Raghuvamsa' as if two different strings of blue sapphires and white pearls are strung together; or like a garland of white lotuses which has blue lilies interspersed in between.
The blue and white waters of the two rivers are described as formations of white and black swans directing themselves towards manosaravara lake or as designs of black and white sandal paste painted on earth.At times it appears as if in the Autumn sky among groups of white clouds patches of blue sky are visible.

The currents of Ganga separated by the influx of the waves of Jamuna, are like the ashes-besmeared body of Shiva on which black and dangerous cobra are playing.

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Dance composition: Dr Ileana Citaristi
Music composition: Sri Gopal Panda, Guru Banamali Maharana
Date of composition: 2005

Chitrangada (Duet)

The episode of Arjuna and Chitrangada is described in the last canto of the Mahabharata, after the end of the great war.
Chitrangada, daughter of king Parbata, has been brought up as a son by her father who, deprived of any male issue, decides to make a courageous warrior out of her. Since childhood she is denied to play any girl games and spends her youth among the soldiers exercising her skills in handling different weapons..
When Arjuna's white horse reaches the kingdom of Manipura challenging the king to surrender or else to fight with his general, the king sends his daughter to the battle. She fights valorously and defeats the enemies with great strength and courage..

Arjuna from afar sees the valorous and handsome general and he is pleased to have found an enemy worthy of him. They challenge each others and after finishing the horse and sword fighting, the two warriors engage in wrestling. At the contact of each others' bodies, their eyes merge and lost in each other's sight, they fall in love..

Through the experience of love Chitrangada for the first time is able to discover the feminine part of her nature which had been denied to her since childhood..

Dance composition: Dr Ileana Citaristi
Script: Dr Prafulla Kumar Mishra
Music composition: Sri Gopal Panda 
Date of composition: 2005

Abhinaya (Duet)

‘Madhura vachana kohonti Mohana’ written by poet Bonomali.
Krishna tries to defend himself from Radha’s accusations but Sri Radha is not won over by his lies and sweet words; she tells him:’ how is it that your face is pale, your eyes are so sleepy, your cloths are torn and your chest bears black marks? With so many marks which reveal your infidelity, how can you think to convince me with your sweet words?’
This song is set to raga. ‘suddha desi’ and tala ‘khemta’.

Dance composition: Dr. Ileana Citaristi
Music composition: Sri Ghanashyamo Panda
Date of composition: 2002

Dasa Mahavidya (group)

Dasa Mahavidya’ or the ‘ten forms of supreme knowledge’ depicts the ten incarnations of Devi according to the tantric school of Indian philosophy. In this item each form of Devi is presented through a brief visualisation of her myth of origin followed by the description of her anthropomorphic form. The ten incarnations are: Kali or the ‘black goddess’, Tara ‘who guides us across the sansara’, Tripura Sundari ‘who is lovely in the three worlds’, Bhuvaneswari ‘ whose body is the world’, Chinnamasta ‘the self-decapitate one’, Bhairavi or ‘the fierce one’, Dhumavati ‘born out of smoke’, Bagalamukhi ‘who paralyses’, Matangi ‘whose limbs are intoxicated’ and Kamala ‘the lotus goddess.

Dance composition: Dr. Ileana Citaristi
Music composition:Sri Ramahari Das, Guru Banamali Maharana
Date of composition: 2002
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Maya Darpana (dance ballet)

The concept of Maya in Indian philosophy is as metaphysical as poetic. Maya Darpan, the choreographic composition based on the Odissi style, has been inspired by the poetic treatment of the concept of Maya in various Upanishads.

In the first scene we are facing the watery surface of the Timeless Being; the moment ‘Time’ or ‘Rhythm’ creeps in, the dimension of ‘Space’ takes shape and ‘Prakruti’ or Nature is born.
From the cosmic union between ‘Prakruti’, the female principle and the male cosmic being, generations of creatures are born. All are limbs of the same body, but they look as separated and individual beings. Through the deception of the five senses, the original oneness is lost into a myriad of experiences which form the insatiable hunger of our lives.

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Until tired of this endless run, man looks inside himself and rediscovers the original unity of all.

Concept and script: Sri Jivan Pani
Dance composition: Dr. Ileana Citaristi
Music composition Sri Partho Das
Date of composition: 1993

Karpasa, the cotton plant (dance ballet)

This is a dance production based on the environmental issue of ‘agro-biotechnology’ or eco-friendly relations between man and nature. It has been conceived and produced on the occasion of the first conference on agro-biotechnology held in Hyderabad in March 2006.

The Moon is looking down and commenting about the fate of the crops which used to be healthier before and asks: Why is it so?

The farmers are seen, arresting natural course of water, excavating mountains, planting seeds, spraying chemicals for better profits etc.

The Moon is continuing his monologue: Why should Mother Earth give fruits? Her breast is aching, her womb is in pain, she curses the farmers and this is the cause for bad crops and depression and cases of suicides among them. She exhorts the farmers to threat Mother Earth with gentleness and care instead of greed and harmonize with her resources. Farmers understand their mistakes; change attitude. The cotton tree starts again to give its white flowers and farmers celebrate.

Script: P. K Misra
Music: Shantanu Mohapatra
Dance choreography: Ileana Citaristi 
Date of composition: 2006

EXPLORATION

An item of pure nritta. A joyful play between two dancers who explore the space around the central gravity point in alternate movements of attraction and expansion.

Credits:
Choreography: Ileana Citaristi
Music: Laxmikanta Palit and Ratikant Mohapatra
Date of composition: 2006

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