Pandit Dubey to present Chhau

KOCHI: Pandit Gopal Prasad Dubey, a renowned exponent of the famed Chhau dance, will enthrall the audience in Kochi on Monday. The vibrant Chhau form traces its lineage from tribal martial tradition of eastern Indian states of Odisha, Jharkhand and West Bengal.

Pt Dubey and his team will present the Saraikela variant of the dance with masks as part of the Kochi Muziris Biennale at TDM Hall.  He  will be accompanied by a 15-member team.  Pt Dubey, 57,  a Padma award winner, will showcase nine items during the performance.

The show organised in association with Bank Employees Art Movement, Ernakulam, will start at 6.30 p.m.   It will begin with the invocatory Jartaghart musical item, followed by the amorous ‘Hara Parvati’ dance. ‘Radha Krishna’ and a night-portraying ‘Ratri’ will follow, after which there will be depictions of the lives of fishermen and hunter.  

‘Chandrabhaga,’  which essays the creation of the Sun Temple of Konark will be the seventh item. A defeated Duryodhana  (in ‘Urubhanga’ play) and the fiery Durga will be the mythological characters coming in the last two items.

“The mask in Seraikela Chhau is a vital element in the dance. It indicates a character or thematic idea in a stylized manner, which lends a quality of abstraction,” said Keli Ramachandran,  curator of performing arts for the KMB-14.  “It liberates the dancer from the limiting influence of the face and places a greater burden on the movement of the body,”  he added.