Chhau is set to get a leg-up in Jharkhand.
A first-of-its-kind national-level training and research centre for chhau will be opened at Chandankyari in Bokaro district on Monday.
The centre will be run by Sangeet Natak Akademi and will function from Rabindra Bhavan in Chandankyari, about 150km from here.
The centre will promote chhau, a very popular folk dance form prevalent in Bengal, Jharkhand and Odisha.
“This is the first centre to be devoted to the promotion of chhau,” Sanjay Kumar Chaudhary, a member of the Akademi’s general council, said.
He said he visited nearly 30 villages to find out that this dance form needed attention.
“The centre will promote all three chhau styles chhau—Manbhum, Seraikela and Mayurbhanj,” he said.
Akademi chairman Shekhar Sen, thespian Rudraprasad Sengupta and Ranchi University vice-chancellor Ramesh Kumar Pandey besides well-known dancers and political leaders from the state are expected to be present at the inaugural programme on Monday.
