Jamshedpur, Nov. 28: Firkal, a traditional form of war dance performed by tribals in Jharkhand, is being adopted by the Sangeet Natak Akademi (SNA), New Delhi.

This comes in the footsteps of Seraikela Chhau, another dance form recently adopted by the apex body for promotion and preservation of dance and drama in the country.

An ancient dance form, Firkal is performed only by male members of the tribal society to depict the heroics of war and narrate how warriors saved their clan and homeland.

It is also performed to invoke male feelings before a tribal goes hunting.

At present there is a small group of dancers at Rajasai village in Potak block of East Singhbhum, which has managed to preserve this traditional dance form.

?There are less than 50 artistes in the state who have some knowledge of this war dance,? said Amitav Ghosh, the local coordinator of SNA.

The decision to adopt Firkal was taken on the basis of a feasibility report by an expert group, which visited Jharkhand recently, said sources in the academy.

?After doing a detailed study on a feasibility report prepared by experts on Firkal, it has been decided by the Akademi to adopt this tribal dance form from December 1,? said Om Prakash Bharati, in charge of tribal dance at SNA.

The first training for the dancers from East Singhbhum will start under the guidance of SNA from the same day, he added.

?Adopting Firkal by SNA will provide a wide platform and better audience for the dance as it has happened in case of Seraikela Chhau.

We expect that in the coming days this war dance will have a large number of performers as it happened in 1900,? said Ghosh.

The funds provided by SNA in the form of scholarships to the artistes will also motivate more people to learn this art, he added.

The adoption of the dance form comes as a boon for the promotion of state tribal culture, especially when the government is doing precious little unlike Manipur, Chhattisgarh, Kerala and Rajasthan, which have been taking steps to promote their indigenous dance forms.

?We have grants for sports but there is no such programme for tribal art. The state does not even have a Sangeet Kala Akademi, while most states, including West Bengal, Manipur and Kerala, have one for promotion of tribal and local art forms,? said sources in the state culture department.

State culture secretary N.N. Sinha, however, said the state had been doing everything possible to promote tribal art and culture.

?We are trying to improve the style of our promotion with the help of experts, and to some extent we have achieved success with Chhau by making a literature on its movements, music and costume. Once we are able to improve on this, the state can look forward to a classical dance category,? said the culture secretary.

Answering to a query on why Jharkhand had not been able to promote various forms of dance as has been the case with Manipur, Kerala, Rajasthan, Orissa or Chhattisgarh, Sinha said: ?The state government is doing everything possible to promote local art forms. Chhau is already on the list of Indian Council for Cultural Relation and we expect that soon other dances will get the same status.?