Friends!
2025 has been a truly driven year for Sutra.
We spent Christmas travelling to New Delhi for our performance and today we shall proceed to Bhubaneswar for the International Odissi Dance Festival (IODF).
Our new Odissi program ‘Rich Encounters’ at the Stein Auditorium, India Habitat Centre, New Delhi opened the 2-day
18th Guru Debaprasad Nrutya Parampara, 26 Dec (Boxing Day). Rich Encounters concluded with a standing ovation.
Two other performances shared the same evening: a lyrical evocative Manipuri dance on Krishna-Radha theme; and a vibrant spirited Kathak led by the legendary Kathak icon and veteran, Shovana Narayan.
Thank you Guru Vinayak Panda and Ankita Kumari for the hospitality and for looking after our needs during the performance.
Sutra Dancers Geethika Sree, Harini, Hareen & Navineesh danced superbly – Sutra troupers they are!
Looking back at three of the young Sutra dancers with us, I realise they represent the core talents left from hundreds whom we had invested time, energy and money, in the Sutra Outreach Program we started in 2013, some 13 years ago.
In retrospect, it is amazing that less than 1% of the the talents invested in the Sutra Outreach Program eventually survived to reach the highest level of artistry Sutra aspired them to attain. (Harini was from the Outreach Program in Kajang and both boys Hareen & Navineesh were from Ladang Sg Choh)
The Malaysian Odissi dancers need the exposure of India and other international platforms to soak in the real challenges of growing as artists. They cannot remain big fishes in a small pond.
(This topic will be one of the areas of discussion on ‘Legacy: Presence in Absence’ where I shall be in conversation with Anita Ratnam at the Dr Maya Rao, Kathak & Choreography Conference, Bangalore on 31 January, 2026.)
Ramli