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Showing posts from December, 2017

Chhau dance in Odisa

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  I t originated in the mock fights of the Oriya paikas (warriors) who fought rhythmically to the accompaniment of indigenous music instruments The highly Stylised Chhau dance of today follow the basic principle of the Natya Shastra of Bharat Muni and the Abhinaya Darpana of Nandikeswara. This dance form became closely associated with religion. The Chhau dancers worship Lord Shiva and Goddess Parvati, the two presiding deities of the Tandava and the Lasya styles respectively. The typical Chhau dance pose when the dancer at rest is the bent knee so that the legs form a Square, the raising of the, right hand upward with the left hand handing downward both forming right angles the elbow.The Chhau dancers have to practices difficult modes of walk-in, striking difficult postures and moving in a way peculiar to this style. It is a virile dance form and was in the past undertaken by male dancers who performed in female roles, as and when required.Today there are also female dancers ...

Review- Documentary on Chhau by Ritwik Kumar Ghatak

The great director Ritwik Kumar Ghatak, in his documentary  Puruliar Chhau,  he explored  the traditional Indian heritage of Chhau. It is a popular mask dance of Eastern India, a Bengali Folk-performing arts. Through his thought-provoking and memorable cinematic narrative, Ghatak attempted to glorify the traditional heritage of this Bengali Folk-performing art which, unfortunately, shows very little evolvement since its hunting or warfare origin due to lack of sustained patronage and guidance. In his interviews, he conveys his deep respect and love for this folk art form and its artists. Evidently, the first few lines of the documentary indicate that the authentic performing art of Purulia has been going through a tough time and fighting for its existence, while the performers of Chhau are also struggling to keep their art form breathing. In fact, in my opinion, Ghatak has done a marvellous and unprecedented job in 21 minutes and 27 seconds with the least number of te...