Mangalacharan Hari Haro by Ramli Ibrahim & Geethika Sree

Mangalacharan (Hari Haro)
(Indian Classical Dance of Odissi)

Original dance composition
Guru Gajendra Kumar Panda

Artistic Direction
Datuk Ramli Ibrahim

Video Filming & Editing
Yayasan Hasanah
ArtsFAS

Performed by
Datuk Ramli Ibrahim & Geethika Sree

We begin with the Mangalacharan, an invocatory dance that begins the odissi recital. The dancers make their entrance, paying obeisance to Mother Earth (Bhumi Pranaam), followed by evoking Hari Haro, the powerful composite god of Siva (Hara)-Vishnu (Hari), representing the unifying principle, not only the opposite ends of two archetypal personalities and attributes, but also of facets of power.This will be followed by the Sabda swarapata on Hari Hara, a distinctive characteristic of the Debaprasad gharana style of odissi. The dancers then, perform their salutation to the audience (Sabha pranam).

Sutra Foundation
Sutra Foundation, a bastion of traditional and contemporary arts bequeathed to Malaysia by Datuk Ramli Ibrahim, was established as a full-fledged Foundation in 2007. Sutra Foundation has been vital in sustaining Sutra’s activities when the arts face challenging times. It continues to provide Malaysia with activities in the performing arts (Sutra Dance Theatre), exhibitions (Sutra Gallery & KamaRia Gallery) and teaching (Sutra Academy). Immense care goes into crafting a Sutra Production – be it in terms of impeccable design input, selection of dance talent, devising sets, costumes, lighting or graphics and marrying them to the conceptual and choreographic intent to assure a flawless production. Sutra Foundation is guided by its Board of Trustees.

Datuk Ramli Ibrahim
An accomplished ballet, modern and Indian classical dancer, Ramli Ibrahim has performed internationally for four decades. As the artistic director of Sutra Dance Theatre, Ramli has choreographed stunning works and nurtured some of the brightest dance talents from Malaysia. Since his return to Malaysia more than thirty-five years ago, he has been instrumental in transforming the dance scene in Malaysia by boldly charting new paths establishing odissi as a widely appreciated dance form in Malaysia. Simultaneously, Ramli has contributed to the establishment of Malaysian contemporary modern dance through the creation of a strong body of original works, which defines ‘modernity’ from Asian perspectives. Ramli Ibrahim has been honoured with many awards, the most recent being the Sangeet Natak Akademi award (2011) and the Padma Shri award (2018) from India and a Datukship (2013), Perdana Award (2019) and the Lifetime Arts Achievement Award (2019) from Malaysia. To Ramli Ibrahim “Dance is a celebration and liberation of the body, mind and soul.”

Geethika Sree
Geethika Sree started bharatanatyam under her mother, Sudha Sasikumar and then commenced odissi with Ramli Ibrahim. She was first featured at Sutra when she was eleven years old and now, she is a seasoned dancer performing internationally in Sutra’s major productions. Geethika was assistant to artistic director for Sutra’s latest productions, GANJAM, Amorous Delight, Odissi on High and Triple Frontiers. She performed solo in Penetrating the Goddess 2017 and was chosen as one of the ‘Top 10 New Generation Malaysian Cultural Dancers 2017’. Geethika has recently received the ‘Guru Debaprasad Yuva Prativa Samman 2018’ Youth Award by Tridhara (Bhubaneswar) and the ‘Swayam Prakasha Nartakhi 2019’ award by Sarasalaya (Chennai). She has partnered Ramli Ibrahim in several performances of odissi for heads of states at international gatherings. Geethika is presently the principal dancer of Sutra and works full time as Sutra administrator.