Sattriya dancers perform at Rabindra Bhawan in Guwahati. Picture by Eastern Projections

It took nearly 600 years for Sattriya to emerge from the monastery (satra) courtyard and reach the stage. But once it did, this religious genre dedicated to Krishna eulogy rapidly gained popularity among dance devotees.

Besides, ever since the Sangeet Natak Akademi recognised the 15th century dance form as a classical genre, it has tried to do its bit to support, if not popularise, Sattriya across the nation.

One such attempt is the Nritya Prava — a Sattriya dance festival that has gone from strength to strength over the past few years.

This year’s festival, which was held with financial and logistical support from the Sangeet Natak Akademi, saw 18 performances in all, which included group, duet and solo items, and lecture-demonstrations by four experts.

Traditionally, Sattriya has a tripartite form — guru vandana, ramdani and geet abhinaya.For lack of time, most modern performances usually stick to any one of the three forms. As did the ones presented at this year’s Nritya Prava that began on November 15.

Of the solo performances, the presentation by Mridusmita Das earned much praise and acclamation. This 17-year-old prodigy, who has trained under renowned guru Ram Krishna Talukdar, created a rare ambience with her opening item, Vishnu vandana, based on a part of Padma Purana and set to Basant taal. It was followed by an item titled Gopi Prabesha Bhangi set to Suta taal.

It was in her final presentation, portraying Krishna as a child, as in Lovonu Churi, Putanaa Bodh, that Mridusmita showed exceptional control over body movement and facial expression. This item was set to Borgeet on raga Kamod and ek taal.

After the solo presentation, two pairs of dancers came up with impressive duets.

The first duo, comprising Jollymoni Saikia and Pankaj Barua, performed vandana, which began with a tribute the Almighty, the audience and the guru. The main item was an enchanting choreographic depiction of the 10 incarnations of Krishna based on a sloka from the 10th chapter of the Bhagawad Gita.

It was followed by three impressive items by the pair: Jhumura Raamdani, Geetor Naach and Mela Naach. There is no denying the fact that the pair did justice to their art and their mentor, Sharadi Saikia.

The next duet, presented by Manashree Pathak and Gaurav Dutta, stole the show.

They presented three items. Of these, Krishna vandana deserves special mention for the devotion and charm the dancers managed to evoke.

Of the group performances, the Maniram Dutta Muktiyar Sattriya Kala Kendra team of five dancers, Anjanamoyee Saikia, Tarali Das, Seetarani Hazarika, Aparajita Dawka and Annwesa Mahanta, presented a laudable show.

All their items, Ramdani in Rajaghariya Chali Naach set to Suta Taal, Geetor Naach, set to raga Suhay in ek taal and mela naach, again set to ek taal, held the viewers spellbound.

Another person who left an impression at the show was Shatarupa Chatterjee.

The three-day festival, was, in fact, a show of the kind talent pool the state has.