Durga Charan Ranbir is a teacher and performer of which dance?

Explanation

Guru Durga Charan Ranbir is a well-known Odissi dancer, guru and choreographer from Odisha. He is a leading exponent of the style of Guru Deba Prasad Das, one of the four great gurus who revived Odissi in the 20th century.

Durga Charan Ranbir trained under Guru Deba Prasad Das, whose style of Odissi is known for its vigorous, powerful movements and its use of elements from the folk and tribal traditions of Odisha, as well as from the Shakta and Tantric traditions of the region. Durga Charan Ranbir has worked to preserve and spread this style through his performances, teaching and choreography. He founded the Nrityayan dance institution in Bhubaneswar, where he has trained many dancers. He has performed and taught in India and abroad, and he has received the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award for his contribution to Odissi.

Odissi is the classical dance of Odisha. Its roots lie in the temple dance traditions of the maharis and the gotipuas. In the 1950s and 1960s, a group of gurus, including Kelucharan Mohapatra, Pankaj Charan Das, Deba Prasad Das and Mayadhar Raut, revived and reconstructed the dance, especially through the Jayantika association. Each of these gurus developed his own style (gharana or bani) of Odissi, which their students continue today. Odissi is known for its two basic postures, the chauka (a square stance representing Lord Jagannath) and the tribhanga (a posture with three bends in the body), and its recital follows the order Mangalacharan, Batu, Pallavi, Abhinaya and Moksha.

Why not the other options?

• ✗Kathak is the classical dance of North India, linked with dancers such as Birju Maharaj.
• ✗Mohiniyattam is the classical dance of Kerala, linked with dancers such as Kalyanikutty Amma.
• ✗Kuchipudi is the classical dance of Andhra Pradesh, linked with dancers such as Vempati Chinna Satyam.