From the Maharis and Gotipuas, Odissi was resurrected mainly as a solo classical dance style.  Hence, traditional performances earlier used to be only by solo artists. But Odissi lends itself beautifully to group choreography. The grace and fluidity of the style became more appealing through such group choreography.

Smitalay’s traditional repertoire consists of both Solo and Group presentations.

A traditional Odissi repertoire consists of:

~ Mangalacharan:

An invocatory item.

Watch a clip of Mangalacharan being performed before a solo performance of Guru Jhelum Paranjape.

~ Batu Nritya:

A dance piece offered to the Lord of dance - Lord Shiva in his ‘Batuka Bhairava’ form. This piece brings out the essence of Odissi.

Watch a small clipping of Smitalay Students performing the Batu Nritya in a group.

~ Pallavi:

A pure dance item for which there are no meaningful words sung, but a particular raga (musical melody) is elaborated through eye movements, beautiful body postures & intricate footwork.

Students performing the 'Shankara Bharanam' Pallavi in group format

Watch a clip of Kalavati Pallavi being performed as a duet by Smitalay Students
Watch a clip of Shankara Bharanam Pallavi presented by Smitalay students in a group format.

~ Abhinay:

Through hand gestures (the language of Indian classical dance), facial expressions and body movements (mime) the meaning of a poetic piece is brought forth & conveyed to the audience. It is telling a story without using the spoken word.

Watch a small clip of the recently choreographed 'Shritakamala' - an ashtapadi from 'Geet Gobind'
Watch Guru jhelum Paranjape performing an Odiya abhinay - 'Ahe Neela'

~ Dashavataar:

A dance piece describing the ten incarnations of Lord Vishnu.

Smitalay students performing Dashavtar