Sonal's Odissi show leaves audience asking for more

NEW DELHI: As she began spreading the vibrant moods of Odissi on stage in her ornate magenta attire, the spellbound audience sat still in admiration. Padma Vibhushan Sonal Mansingh performed Rasanand at the Siri Fort Auditorium on Thursday evening while giving Delhiites an opportunity to appreciate the classical Indian dance form from Orissa as part of Culture Curry at the ongoing Times Delhi Festival.
Mansingh, who has been performing Odissi for close to 50 years now, left the aficionados of Indian classical dance as well as novices in the audiences wanting for more."We had heard so much about Sonal Mansingh. So we came here to finally see her perform. Though I am not into classical dance at all, I felt that she was really good,'' said Bhawna Jain, who had come to see the concert with her little daughter.
Before Mansingh, the audience were also mesmerised by the renditions of vocalist Jayteerath Mevundi, who sang raag Pooryadhanashri, Jog, a bhajan thumak thumak pag and Abhang in Marathi even as the listeners before him were swinging their heads living up to the `bhaav' in each song. "It was a great experience performing at the Times Delhi Festival. The audience comprised people with different interests but their response was truly encouraging,'' said Jayteerath, who hails from Hubli in Karnataka and has been singing since the age of 13 years.