Odissi danseuse Sonali Mohapatra has created a niche for herself, irrespective of her auditory disability. The Pioneer got an opportunity to have an exclusive meet chat with her to learn and know more about her art form.
Tejal Sinha
With her expertise in Abhinaya (expressions) and Nritya (pure dance), Sonali Mohapatra has been an accomplished Odissi dancer and a global performer. At an early age of 5, due to an unfortunate incident, she lost a major portion of her hearing, a loss that later proved to be irreparable.
Despite having lost 100% of her hearing in her left ear and 87% in her right ear, she found a calling in dance. With the help of her father, Nirmal Kumar Mohapatra, a renowned vocalist, she became trained in “taal” and “layakariyan,” hence mastering the rhythm and flow of the dance.
She began her early training with Guru Tripti Mayee Mohanty and later found guidance under Guru Durga Charan Ranbir.
“At the age of 5, I would accompany my father, a trained vocalist himself, for his Odissi shows,” recalls the choreophile in this exclusive chat with The Pioneer. “I used to adore the performances and how my dad used to give taal. During that time, I realised, maybe I couldn’t dance like them, but there’s of course something within me when it comes to dancing. Every time that I used to sit and watch, it always felt like I was in heaven and used to feel like the apsaras were dancing.”
However, it did take her some time to convince her father to accept the notion of his daughter taking up dance, knowing how important music and sound are in a dancer’s journey.
The doctor’s suggestion was that, with the exposure to loud music, there could be a much bigger impact on her hearing issue! But as she got a little emotional in this chat with us, she recalled how, being a father, he knew there was something within his daughter. In fact, even the headmistress of the school knew that Sonali had that potential. “I got enrolled under the guidance of Guru Tripti Mayee Mohanty and within no span, my father also took a hiatus from his career for me to memorise the rhythms of popular songs. The training was tough. I couldn’t afford to miss a beat! There was no room for errors. During this, my mother had always been a shadow,” says the connoisseur, who also recalls how her father sat down for 7 days continuously and used to help her out with the taal and rhythm.
The reality of practice and platform used to turn out to be a challenge for her. “I used to also face challenges when performing a pre-recorded song, especially if the device wasn’t working properly. Due to these glitches, I used to, at times, even lose the rhythm. However, now I have adjusted to it.”
Basically, to our surprise, she revealed how her device helps her to listen to at least 13 percent of it. However, without it, the percent of her hearing goes down to zero. But she never let this affect her confidence and here she is, being an inspiration to many more.
During her journey, her first guru, Tripti Mayee Mohanty, played a very important role in shaping her prowess in dance. Recalling her learnings, she shares, “My guru used to spend a lot of time for me to get my hands on the hand gestures and other movements. The taal, of course, was taught by my father. Later, when she got confidence in me that, I could do it, she herself sent me to Guru Durga Charan Ranbir, who is also my current guru.”
She is married to renowned flutist Abhiram Nanda, who is a disciple of Guru Padmavibhusan Pandit Hariprasad Chaurasia. And after her father, who has had a major influence in her life, has been her husband. There was a time when, during the live concerts, her father used to sing and her better half, used to give the flute music. He used to help her out with information on the current music. Today, he has become a major root of all her choreographies!
When choreographing her own dance performances, she makes sure that she does thorough research before hand on the topic that she has decided to perform on. She later used to share her idea with her father and husband for her to help with the taal and rhythm. The music and composition are further prepared based on her thoughts.
Speaking of her balance between the approach towards Abhinaya (expressions) and Nritya (pure dance) in her performances, she gleefully enthuses on a concluding note, “Abhinaya is based on more challenging rhythms and change of taals, which needs a lot of stamina. Meanwhile, when we say nritya (pure dance), it is more of high energy, stamina and based on the sculptures of the Nartakis that we see in temples. Pure dance is nothing but practice. When it comes to Abhinaya, it is more deeply rooted and you feel and understand the characters. Failing to do so, you’ll not be able to give the right expressions. Expressions are not just your smile and eye movements; they are the deep-rooted understanding of each and every character. Again, it’s not just about characters but also the situation.”