Bhubaneswar: The 1st Prabasi Nrutya Sangam Lifetime Achievement Award was presented to eminent Odissi dancer Kumkum Mohanty for her contribution to the classical dance.
Mohanty was awarded at the 1st Prabasi Nrutya Sangam programme organised by the Directorate of Odisha Paribar in collaboration with Nritya Sadhana (USA) with support of Guru Kelucharan Mahapatra Odissi Research Centre, Bhubaneswar.
The award for International Icon was conferred on Aruna Mohanty while the award for Prabasi Nrutya Guru was presented to Jyoti Rout.
Two awards were presented to young talents for encouraging them in their pursuit of Odissi dance. Tapasya Ray, a student of Nrityasadhana from USA, was given the Prabasi Yuva Pratibha Award and Preetisha Mohapatra from Odisha awarded the Yuva Award.
The function took off with the messages of Governor Raghubar Das and Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik. Chief Secretary Pradeep Kumar Jena; secretary, Odia Language Literature and Culture, Sujata R Karthikeyan; special secretary Madhususan Das; Joint Director Subodh Chandra Acharya and Director Nrityasadhana Tapasi Rath were present. Chief executive of GKCM ORC welcomed the guests.
The event witnessed scintillating performances by noted exponents of Odissi and their dance groups. Jodi Sankha troupe from Narendrapur and Gotipua group from Brahmagiri also performed in the festival.
