R-Day Parade In Delhi: Odissi Exponent Nibedita Mohapatra Choreographs ‘Vande Bharatam’

Bhubaneswar: Eminent Odissi dancer Nibedita Mohapatra is one of the choreographers of the Ministry of Culture’s  cultural show ‘Vande Bharatam’ that will be presented during Republic Day parade in New Delhi.

This is for the second year that ‘Vande Bharatam’ has been included in the Republic Day parade. Total 479 artists in the age group of 17-30 years have been selected through a month long rigorous competition at state, zonal and national level in the genres of classical, folk and contemporary fusion.

The contingent comprising 326 female and 153 male dancers will perform on the theme ‘Naari Shakti’. The specially choreographed show will depict the power of women through five elements – Earth, Water, Air, Space and Fire.

Its music has been composed by young female composers Raja Bhavatharini and Alokananda Dasgupta with additional arrangements by Shamit Tyagi who have combined Carnatic, Hindustani and Contemporary Jazz elements to pay homage to woman power. The five elements are introduced by Ghazala Amin, penned by Ashok Chakradhar while the lyrics for ‘Naari Shakti Hain’ are by Rajeshwari Dasgupta.

The show has been choreographed by a team of four dynamic female dance exponents Jayaprabha Menon, Kavita Dwivedi, Nibedita Mohapatra and Bhavini Misra.

Nibedita Mohapatra, a prolific and versatile Odissi dancer, is the recipient of the Junior fellowship and
Senior scholarship in Odissi dance from the Ministry of Culture. She is also an empaneled artist in ICCR and has performed Odissi dance in over 30 countries around the world.

She has choreographed numerous dance items for NTPC, corporate houses and the Government of India.