Hockey World Cup Diary: Odissi's Italian connection in Bhubaneswar

BHUBANESWAR: The walkers were a little tired towards the end of their 'Heritage Walk' on Sunday in Bhubaneswar. It was close to 9:30 AM and it had been a good two and a half hours on the trail around temples in the Old Town area. That's when Sophia, the guide, said: "We now have a dance performance for you all to watch". The tired eyes at once flickered wide open.This wasn't something that was on the agenda, or maybe it was kept under wraps as a surprise to end the walking tour with.
One after the other, the walkers made their way into the verandah of Art Vision --- a dance institute. The path led to a small theatre inside, with a stage carved out of a big platform that was actually part of the periphery of the place. In short, it was a very pleasant surprise for the group, which sat down on floor mats expecting something special.
And it was just that -- special.
Dressed in a sari appeared Ileana Citaristi -- an Italian-Indian, author, choreographer and most importantly the first dancer of foreign origin to be conferred the Padma Shri for dedicating her life to Odissi.

"I came to India in 1979 to learn dance, because I was doing theatre. I thought I would learn some movements and then adopt those to use in my work. My intention was to stay only for one year, but I am still here, almost 40 years now," said Citaristi, with an expected Italian accent, without disclosing her age.
"Even Google has two versions of that," she said with a smile.
Such has been her dedication to Odissi that Ileana chose to stay single, with visits to Italy largely limited to participation in dance festivals.
But she can speak 'Oriya' better than many Odisha natives. For a group with travellers from different parts of India, that wasn't needed, though. So she stuck to English, explaining the 'mudras' (postures) and the art of 'abhinaya' (acting) - before introducing the act her students were going to present -- depicting Shiva and a conversation through Odissi, revolving around the relationship between Radha and Krishna.
"This is Art Vision, my institution," she said with a sense of pride as her students received a standing ovation, followed by expected requests for selfies. "It started in 1996, and we celebrated our 20th anniversary in 2016."
Incidentally Ileana also won a National Award for choreography in 1995 for the Bengali film 'Yugant'.
"Come over to Konark temple tomorrow evening; we are performing there at the Dance Festival that's on," she invited the group members, some of who were journalists visiting Bhubaneswar to cover the ongoing Hockey World Cup.
"Oh, you are here for that," she said looking at the journalists, before concluding: "We performed last year at the hockey event (Hockey World League Finals). This year, I went to see the (World Cup) opening ceremony, but I was in the audience enjoying it." Ileana signed off.