The much-awaited Odishi Dance Festival at the Oxford University will kick off from Friday. This is for the first time that an Indian classical dance festival is going to be held at the 900-year-old university.
The festival is a brainchild of Baisali Mohanty, a Master’s degree student of International Studies at the Oxford University. The three-day festival, to be organised by the Oxford Odissi Centre founded by Mohanty in collaboration with the Oxford India Society and the Indian High Commission in london, will be attended by dignitaries including the Indian High Commissioner to UK and other senior functionaries at the Indian High Commission. All tickets for the event have been sold out.
The extravaganza will include performances by renowned Odishi exponent Padma Shri Dr Ileana Citaristi, Oxford Odissi Centre founder BaisaliMohanty, Turkish dancer GuzinYener, Nisha Somasundaram and many other noted dance exponents from over 11 countries.
Besides, a photographic exhibition on the history of Odishi dance will also be on display. Notably, the Oxford Odissi Centre was founded in December, 2015 by Mohanty. The centre besides holding regular Odishi dance classes for members of university conducts Odishi workshops at other world-renowned institutions in UK.
