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Dying dance forms add colour to Yatra

Loud and clear: Drummers of traditional Sambalpuri dance showing their skill during Dhanu Yatra at Bargarh town.

BARGARH: Even as glittering costumes, large landscapes and active participations of a large number people in Krishna Leela has made the Dhanu Yatra, being celebrated here, a truly world famous event, it also provides traditional dance forms of the region an opportunity to survive in the era of filmi dances.

While, the tyrannical demon king Kansa, the main protagonist of Dhanu Yatra, rules for 10 days over western Orissa town of Bargarh and his durbar, a raised stage, provides perfect platform to traditional dancers to showcase their skills.

Over the last 60 years, the organisers of Dhanu Yatra have sincerely tried to prepare the schedule to slot in these dancers from remote areas of different western Orissa districts.

“I have watched Sambalpuri, a traditional dance, in major cultural events of the State, but the essence of the same dance being performed here sets it apart from others,” Sanjeev Mishra, a tourist from Bhubaneswar, said.

Bargarh Dhanu Yatra Mohotsab Samiti has invited 46 dance troupes from all India to present their dances at Kansa’s darbar this year.

Of these, 25 troupes are traditional while 12 are from the district itself. Sabda Nrutya, Dulabiha, Nabarasa, Sanchar Kala, different varieties of Sambalpuri dance and Ghess Dance were some of the dances those have got wide appreciations from local populace as well as tourists who have witnessed the performance at Dhanu Yatra which started from January 12.

Though organisers have invited dance troupes from Assam, West Bengal, Hariyana and Punjab to add colour to the celebrations, traditional dances have their own flavour, Bargarh District Culture Officer Dillip Samantray said.

“We have taken care that the traditional dances do not lose their identity when modern dance and television programmes have taken away much time from entertainment slot of people.

This is an attempt to keep several dance forms, which are fading out, alive,” Mr. Samantray said.

Dancers of Sabda Nrutya, which is said to be the crude, yet the prime form of Odissi dance, enthralled with their performance. “We always wait for Dhanu Yatra to show our skills. This is the most important event in our annual calendar,” Mana Bhanjan Das, president of Satyasai Sabda Nrutya Research centre, said.

This year, Krishna Patel, the singer of Orissa’s one of the most popular song ‘Ranga Vati Ranga Vati’, was invited to perform at the durbar of Kansa.

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