More moves?

A clutch of students of Rajkiya Chhau Nritya Kala Kendra, Seraikela, is revisiting Seraikela Chhau to dig up its history and discover the lost ballads.

The team of six — Gopal Kumar Patnaik, Pradeep Kumar, Sashank Shekhar Mohanty, Pradeep Bosa, Gurucharan Mahto and Buddha Singh Sardar — led by their teacher and director of the kendra Tapan Patnaik has embarked on a research on the dance form. They are touring the villages of Seraikela-Kharsawan and West Singhbhum and interacting with indigenous people, who can shed light on Seraikela Chhau that is known to have as many as 288 ballads (read dance dramas).

With the most popular ballads being the oft-performed Mahishasuramardini, Naavik, Mayura, Chandrabhaga, Radha Krishna and Ratri, the team is trying to find details about the ones that have never been performed on stage, but finds mention in the history of Seraikela Chhau.

“There are 288 ballads in Seraikela Chhau, out of which only 52, mainly the easy ones, are popular. The rest have gone into oblivion and hence, we are trying to track them down so that the dance form can boast variety,” said Patnaik.

The team has begun their quest on a very successful note. Within a few months of research and extensive travelling across Seraikela-Kharsawan and West Singhbhum, it has traced about five lost ballads — Raja Harishchandra, Nal Damayanti, Sabitri aur Satyavaan, Prahlad and Amrapali. These acts have not been performed anywhere in the last five decades and the reason can galore.

“These dance dramas are difficult to choreograph and each has its own rhythm. I assume that because of these complications, the exponents of Seraikela Chhau never bothered to explore these ballads and stuck to the common performances,” Patnaik said.

About 232 students of Rajkiya Chhau Nritya Kala Kendra are also expected to benefit from the findings and revival of the lost dance acts. “Once we get an idea about most of the ballads, if not all, we will be in a position to add to the variety of Seraikela Chhau and make it more interesting,” said Patnaik.