What an irony
SHYAMHARI CHAKRA
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The meet discussed the need to revive the dying Gotipua dance.
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UNIQUE, TIMELY One of the presentations by the Gotipuas.
Like their costume itself, the Gotipua dancers of Orissa have been synonymous with ironies. They are boys but they dance dressed as girls. Literally, Gotipua means single boy. But it is always being performed in groups these days. The dance form, which was a precursor to Odissi and originated in Orissa as a temple ritual for Lord Jagannath, is fast gaining global attention. But in its land of birth, it is hardly getting any patronage from its people or the Government while Odissi has been their obsession.
Against such a depressing backdrop, the all-Orissa Gotipua meet and new production festival held in the unique heritage village of Raghurajpur near Puri was a timely initiative by Parampara, the cultural institution of the village. Raghurajpur was aptly chosen as the venue for the event as Padma Shri Maguni Das, considered as the pioneer of Gotipua dance, belongs to this village. At 93, he still trains budding artistes with unbound enthusiasm. Coincidentally, legendary Odissi exponent Kelucharan Mohapatra was also born in this village that is known as the artists' village worldwide today.
Whither Gotipua today? This was the focus of the deliberations the meet was meant for. "Traditional touch in Gotipua has been a far cry now," rued most of the gurus unanimously, while expressing their concern over the deviation from the age-old tradition. "A dance that is performed by a single boy dancer in female costume is been performed jointly by a numbers of boys today. Although dance is an art that keeps on changing with the time, deviation from the glorious tradition is never a healthy sign," remarked Maguni Das, the grand old guru.
"There is an urgent need to revive the age-old tradition," felt the octogenarian guru Birabara Sahoo, who was the principal teacher at the Sangeet Natak Akademi sponsored Gotipua Project undertaken at Konark. And Akademi awardee Odissi guru Gangadhar Pradhan, who is the president of the Orissa Sangeet Natak Akademi at present, admitted that unlike Odissi dance Gotipua is lagging behind in terms of popularity and promotion. "Costumes and music should not be changed under any circumstances," several exponents cautioned. The dance of the Gotipuas is in Odissi style, but their technique, costume and presentation are quite distinct from the Mahari style. The songs are generally compositions of Vaishnavite poets of Orissa, they pointed out. When the dance of the Maharis and the devadasis of the Jagannath temple disintegrated due to various reasons, the class of these boy dancers was started to carry out the tradition. It is largely from them that the present form of Odissi dance has been revived, explained Biswanath Swain, secretary, Parampara. It is acknowledged that most of the present Odissi gurus were Gotipua dancers in their early days, he stated.
Despite lack of patronage, there are an estimated 200 Gotipua dancers in about 22 troupes in the State at present. Besides Puri district where it flourished, Ganjam and Dhenkanal districts have a few troupes. Interestingly, eight dancers from Japan and Italy are learning Gotipua in Raghurajpur village these days.
It was a rare scene to watch the 93-year-old guru Maguni Das and 82-year-old Birabar Sahu present demonstrations during the meet that witnessed new choreographic compositions and demonstrations of 22 gurus who participated in the event.
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