BHUBANESWAR: A funds crunch seems to have stalled around 3,000 Odissi dancers’ bid to enter the Guinness Book of World Records. They were scheduled to perform simultaneously in an event to mark the 75th State formation day and bid for the Guinness Record as the largest-ever assembly of Indian classical dancers.The spectacle was scheduled on the inaugural evening of the Fourth International Odissi Festival, to be held here from December 23 to 30. As announced at a press conference in August, the event was to feature over 500 Odissi dancers from 20 countries.The Festival is being jointly organised by the State Culture Department and a US-based cultural forum, Indian Performing Arts Promotions (IPAP), with the State-owned Odissi Research Centre as the nodal agency.As announced by IPAP president Pratap Das, a non-resident Indian, the festival was to be kickstarted with a group performance by 3,000 Odissi dancers at the Kalinga Stadium in a bid to set the Guinness Record as the largest-ever gathering of Indian classical dancers.However, the plan has been scaled down due to paucity of funds. Sources said the expenses for the seven-day event were estimated at Rs 1.4 crore, including Rs 70 lakh for the inaugural event. While the event was to be sponsored by IPAP and the Government, the former has so far submitted just Rs 1 lakh.With no further communication from the forum, the number of performers had to be pruned. The inaugural event would feature only 500 Odissi dancers from across the country now.The participants have allegedly been kept in the dark on the change of plans, despite being asked to attend rehearsals from December 18 to 22.Odissi Research Centre Chief Executive Ramhari Das, however, said no definite decision over scaling down of the inaugural function had been taken yet. “The final call will be taken soon,” he said."The event will in a way create another record. The 500 dancers will set a Guinness Record in Odissi,” said an eminent Odissi dancer.The International Odissi Festival is being organised for the second time in Bhubaneswar, the first time in 2006. The earlier editions were held at Washington DC in 2000 and 2003.Currently, 2,860 Kuchipudi dancers who performed together in Hyderabad in December last year, is considered to be the largest ensemble of Indian classical dancers. The occasion was the second international Kuchipudi convention, organised by the Silicon Andhra Cultural Organisation based in the US.
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