CAPITAL CALLING

Jamshedpur, Jan. 28: The village will go to the city, bearing twin gifts of rhythm and story.

Chhau dancers of Seraikela-Kharsawan villages will soon get to perform at New Delhi’s Mahabharata Festival, organised by the prestigious Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts.

The Centre, an autonomous institution under the Union ministry of culture, will host seminars, keynote talks, exhibitions of books, manuscripts and photographs, performances, film shows and display of artefacts, among others, as part of the event.

Come February 9, dancers from Seraikela Chhau Dance Academy will perform various chhau forms at the prestigious festival.

The Seraikela dance cradle, which has handpicked village dancers in the team for the “mega exposure”, will showcase epic sequences in Seraikela Chhau, Manbhum Chhau and Purulia Chhau — various styles of the dance.

“It is an honour for our tribal students to perform at the Mahabharata Festival in New Delhi as their dance will be seen by connoisseurs on a mega platform. The festival will have performances and discussions on Mahabharata, the great Hindu epic,” said dance academy director Tapan Patnaik.

Patnaik has chosen a group of 60 artistes — the cream of performers — and is busy rehearsing famed sequences such as Draupadi vastra haran, urubhanga and Eklavya in Seraikela Chhau style, while Abhimanyu vadh will be performed in the Mayurbhanj style.

While Draupadi’s dishonour in the Kuru court after the Pandavas lost the game of dice to the Kauravas is perhaps the most dramatic sequence of the epic, the other sequences — urubhanga and Abhimanyu vadh — refers to well-known events during the epic war. Ekalavya refers to the self-taught non-Kshatriya archer who proves that his proficiency equals or even surpasses Arjuna.

“We will give our best shot in New Delhi and promote chhau to the best of our ability. This is our first opportunity in such a prestigious platform,” said dancer Kapildev Mahto from Seraikela.

“Our students are young, between 18 and 20 years. Their performances in such festivals will encourage their interest in chhau. We will see to it that more youngsters get enthused,” said Patnaik.