Folk forms dazzle
SARAT CHANDRA
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The two-day folk forms festival held in Bhubhaneshwar was a treat to the eyes.
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RURAL FLAVOUR Village artistes performing during the two-day fest.
Bhubaneswar witnessed a two-day festival of folk-forms in the first week of January; which demonstrated once again that folklores have everlasting appeal. It was a fete jointly organised by the Orissa Sangeet Natak Academy and the Chandigarh-based Pracheena Kala Kendra.
The fare of the two-day programme included fascinating items like the Ghata Patua, Chaiti Ghoda, Kandei Nacha, Dhap Dence etc. Of these, Ghata Patua artistes are a familiar sight in certain areas of Orissa since this dance is associated with some Shakti deities like Sarala. This is performed as a solo dance with a couple of persons providing music with a bell (ghanta) and a percussion instrument. The outfit of the dancing artiste is curious, since the performer wears a multi-layered skirt and a blouse-like upper garment with a scarf tied to both arms. The male dancer is attired like a female! He dances, balancing on his head a wooden stick with a pot containing ritual water from the deity's shrine.
Another ritualistic dance performed was Chaiti Ghoda, also associated with a Shakti cult deity, known as Baseli. Apart from three musicians, a group of seven artistes presented this dance.. The name Chaiti Ghoda literally means horse (ghoda) in the month of Chaitra (the last month in the Oriya calendar). The made up horse consisted of paper-mache horse head, a bamboo-stick and wire frame, covered with appliqué clothing. There is an opening in the frame in which the artiste places himself and holds the dummy horse and dances. The Chaiti Ghoda troupe had four dummy horse artistes, which added colour; but the real spice in the performance was the songs which the chief of the troupe provided. He sang while a female and a male dancer performed energetically. The staple of the songs were humorous and satirical. These were vastly entertaining.
Puppeteering was one folk form still included in the festival menu. The puppeteer was Maguni Charan Kuonr from Keonjhar district. Winner of the Sangeet Natak Academy national-level award, Maguni Charan is gifted with various talents rolled into one - sculptor, voice modulator, designer and skilled puppeteer. He brought into play in his show the elements of traditional Oriya theatre - songs, dialogues, farce and action. It was an unforgettable experience.
There was also Dhap, a tribal dance of a tribe of Kalahandi. The foot works and body kinetics of the group were minimal and yet not monotonous at all.
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