Devdasi National Dance Festival, a three-day event held at Rabindra Mandap here, showcased around 15 potential soloists representing eight classical dances at a stage.

The ninth edition of the festival and presentation of Devdasi National Award-2014 organised by Devdasi Nrutya Mandir concluded with much fanfare on Friday.

In the closing evening of the festival, eight different Indian classical dancers were conferred with Devdasi National Award by Tourism and Culture Minister Ashok Chandra Panda. The awards were presented to Sangeeta Dash for Odissi, Sunanda Nair for Mohini Attam, Deepika Reddy for Kuchipudi, Mallika Kandali for Sattriya, Malti Shyam for Kathak, Manoj Kumar for Kathakali, Rajashree Warrier for Bharat Natyam and W lokendrajit Singh for Manipuri.

Receiving the award, all the awardees expressed their gratitude to the organiser and dance critic Shyamhari Chakra, who is also the festival advisor.

“It is indeed a great pleasure to receive the Devdasi award in Bhubaneswar and the audiences here are very supportive,” said Kuchipudi dancer Deepika Reddy. Organiser and secretary of Davdasi Nrutya Mandir Jagabandhu Jena said,

“It is a unique dance festival where all the recognised eight classical dancers are invited and eminent dancers of all style perform solo recital.” Artistes from foreign countries also participated here in previous years, he added.

Temple ritual dances like Mahari dance of Puri and Vilasini Natyam of Andhra Pradesh are also performed in the festival, Jena informed. He also said the festival is named after Devdasi to remember and give tribute to the Devdasies who have dedicated their lives to worship the deities in temples.

The festival began with Odissi dance recital by lingaraj Pradhan who showcased the life of Karna in Mahabharat. This was followed by Bharatnatyam by Rukmini Vijaykumar, Kuchipudi and Manipuri shows on the inaugural evening. Odissi dance performance by Dali Basu Choudhury on the same day was outstanding and pulled the audiences’ attraction.

Her calm, peaceful smile and eye expression were the main attractions. The three-day-long event included performances by Rahul Acharya, Rajashree Warrier, Mallika Kandali, Dibyashree Panda, K Manoj Kumar, Sangeeta Dash, Sunanda Nair, Deepika Reddy, Malti Shyam and Tulika.