Chhau (Bihar)
The folk dance of Bihar is known as Chhau dance,
which depicts enormous vitality and virility.
The word 'Chhau' comes from the Sanskrit root
'Chhaya' meaning shade. As masks form an important
feature of this dance it is called 'Chhau',
which means mask.
Chhau dance includes certain steps from 'Pharikhanda'
which is a system of exercise. This system of
exercise has been an important part of training
of Sipahis. All the performers hold swords and
shields while performing this exercise.(Bihar)
The stages are decorated and brilliantly lit
by a large number of torches, lanterns and flickering
oil lamps. Ragas of Hindustani music is the
main base of the tunes. The musical instruments
used are the Dhol ( a cylindrical drum), Nagara
( a huge drum) and sSehnais (reed pipes). The
dance is performed by men and boys. As it is
difficult to dance for very long with a mask,
the dance does not last more than 7-10 minutes.
The three main elements of classical dance,
namely Raga (melody), Bhava (mood) and Tala
( rhythmic timing) form an important aspect
of Chhau dance. This is because it follows certain
traditions of the classical mode. Chhau dance
is an expression of a mood, state or condition.
They also depict nature and the animal world.
Sagara Nritya (ocean dance), Sarpa Nritya (serpent
dance), Mayura Nritya (peacock dance), etc.,
are examples of the different forms of dances.
The dance may also consist of themes taken from
mythology and everyday life.
Chhau dance is a dance full of vitality and
robustness, unlike any of the Indian dances.
The entire body and entire being of the dancer
is employed as a single unit, as his language.
This body language is extremely poetic and powerful.
The legs form an effective means of communicating
the expression. Although the face is covered
by the mask it mysteriously expresses the feelings
to be communicated.
In Mayurbhanj, Chhau is performed mainly in
Saraikella On the 25th day of the Chaitra month,
the Lord Shiva invocated and the dances began.
Chhau is mainly a male dominated art. However
in recent years women have taken to Saraikella
and Mayurbhanj. The leading exponents of the
Chhau in Saraikella have been the royal princes
in Mayurbhanj, the lower classes, the rabble
and Purulia farmers, tillers and the like.
Brita Dance (West Bengal)
West Bengal, the state which has given us many
of our renowned poets, thinkers, artists, has
a rich tradition of folk art. Brita or Vrita
dance is one of the most important traditional
folk dances of Bengal. This is an invocational
dance performed by the barren women of Bengal
who worship in gratitude after their wish is
fulfilled. Quite often, this dance is performed
after a recovery from a contagious disease like
small pox, etc.
Kali Nach is another dance performed during
Gajan, in honour of the Goddess Kali. Here,
the performer wears a mask, purified by mantras,
and dances with a sword, and when worked up
can make prophetic answers.
Dalkhai (Orissa)
The 'Dalkhai' is a dance performed by women
of the tribes from the Sambalpur district of
Orissa. It is quite a virile dance rendered
during the time of festivals. The men generally
play the musical instruments and the drummers
often join the dance.
A dummy horse version is the Chaiti Ghorha,
danced by a community of fisherfolk. The performers
are all men. Apart from dancing, the performers
sing, deliver homilies of sorts, and offer brief
dramatic enactments peppered with wit and humour.
Dancing on stilts is fairly common among the
Gond children of Madhya Pradesh. The dance is
popular in the Vindhyas and the Satpura ranges.
This is danced in the rainy season from June
to August. The dancer who has his balance on
the stilts (Gendi) perform even in water or
on marshy surface. The dance is brisk, and ends
with a dance in pyramid formation.
This is generally confined only to children
and the attraction consists in balancing and
clever footwork. In the villages where the wheat
seedlings festival, Bhujalia, is celebrated,
children prance on their gendis, collect near
the village pond or the river in which bhujalias
are to be immersed. Other children, dancing
to the accompaniment of musical instruments
join the group and they dance together. Sometimes,
womenfolk also join them, but they do not use
stilts.
The Gendi season begins on the day of Bak Bandhi
festival in the month of June and concludes
after the Pola dance celebrations in the month
of August.
Goti Puas (Orissa)
It was thanks to the pioneering efforts
of Ramchandradeva that Goti Pua (or boy dancers)
came into being, during the latter half the
6th century.
The last of the great dynasties of Orissa had
collapsed and the Mughals and Afghans were in
the midst of a tug-of-war. Ramachandradeva,
the Raja of Khurda (a principality in Orissa)
had provided refuge to Mughal soldiers who had
been defeated by the Afghan troops, and was
consequently in the good books of Emperor Akbar.
He was designated Gajapati or King of Orissa,
with allegiance to the Mughal Viceroy. He was
also appointed Superintendent of the Jagannath
temple in Puri.
Ramchandradeva was not only an able ruler but
also a sensitive and enlightened man. During
his reign, maharis or devadasis attached initially
only to temples, came to be patronised by the
courts. It was in his time, too, and on his
initiative, that another tradition of dance,
came into being - the tradition of goti puas,
the boy dancers.
Another reason that traces the emergence of
goti puas is that the women dancing on the pretext
of worship was greatly disapproved by Vaishnavas.
So to eliminate the problem, the custom of dancing
by boys dressed as girls was introduced. The
boys are also students of akhadas, or gymnasiums
established by Ramachandradeva in Puri, at the
boundaries of the temple. Hence they were also
known as Akhada Pilas -boys attached to akhadas.
The mahari and goti pua dance styles co-existed,
each independently, but with common roots. The
Odissi dance as we know it today has evolved
from a curious amalgamation of both these dance
traditions.
The word goti means 'one', 'single' and Pua,
'boy', but the goti puas always dance in pairs.
Boys are recruited at about the age of six
and continue to perform till they are 14, then
become teachers of the dance or join drama troupes.
Goti puas are now part of professional teams,
known as dals, each headed by a guru.
The boys are trained for about two years, during
which, after having imbibed the basic technique,
they learn items of dance, ornamental and expressional.
The goti puas, being youngsters in their formative
years, can adapt their bodies to the dance in
a far more flexible manner as opposed to the
maharis.
Needless to say, one of the most demanding
aspects of the dance tradition in Orissa - the
bandha, which involves intricate contortions
and positions of the body - is the domain of
the sprightly goti puas.
A goti pua presentation is ably supported by
a set of three musicians, who play the pakhawaj,
the gini or cymbals and the harmonium. The boys
do the singing themselves, though at times the
group has an additional singer.
The goti pua performance is far more organised
than that of the maharis, and includes items
like Panchadevta Puja, Bhumi Pranam and Battu.
A goti pua performance usually commences with
Bhumi Pranam (salutation to Mother Earth), and
wraps up with Bidahi Sangeet, a farewell song
and dance item. The whole performance lasts
around three hours.
During the Chandan Jatra festival, along with
the maharis, goti puas are ferried in boats
down the Narendra Sarovar, a holy tank in Puri,
to perform before the deities. The Jhoolan Jatra,
celebrated every August, is the ocassion when
the goti puas completely overshadow the maharis.
Today, the surviving goti pua dals belong to
villages and some prominent groups are from
Dimirisena and Raghurajapur near Puri, and Darara,
near Bhubaneswar. In the past goti pua artistes
were patronised by Zamindars and were much in
demand during festivals like Dol Purnima, or
Holi and Dussehra.
Like the maharis their existence too is gradually
fading into oblivion.