The folk dance of Bihar is known as Chhau dance, which depicts enormous vitality and virility. The word 'Chhau' comes from the Sanskrit root 'Chhaya' meaning shade. As masks form an important feature of this dance it is called 'Chhau', which means mask.
Chhau dance includes certain steps from 'Pharikhanda' which is a system of exercise. This system of exercise has been an important part of training of Sipahis. All the performers hold swords and shields while performing this exercise.(Bihar)
The stages are decorated and brilliantly lit by a large number of torches, lanterns and flickering oil lamps. Ragas of Hindustani music is the main base of the tunes. The musical instruments used are the Dhol ( a cylindrical drum), Nagara ( a huge drum) and sSehnais (reed pipes). The dance is performed by men and boys. As it is difficult to dance for very long with a mask, the dance does not last more than 7-10 minutes.
The three main elements of classical dance, namely Raga (melody), Bhava (mood) and Tala ( rhythmic timing) form an important aspect of Chhau dance. This is because it follows certain traditions of the classical mode. Chhau dance is an expression of a mood, state or condition. They also depict nature and the animal world. Sagara Nritya (ocean dance), Sarpa Nritya (serpent dance), Mayura Nritya (peacock dance), etc., are examples of the different forms of dances. The dance may also consist of themes taken from mythology and everyday life.
Chhau dance is a dance full of vitality and robustness, unlike any of the Indian dances. The entire body and entire being of the dancer is employed as a single unit, as his language. This body language is extremely poetic and powerful. The legs form an effective means of communicating the expression. Although the face is covered by the mask it mysteriously expresses the feelings to be communicated.
In Mayurbhanj, Chhau is performed mainly in Saraikella On the 25th day of the Chaitra month, the Lord Shiva invocated and the dances began.
Chhau is mainly a male dominated art. However in recent years women have taken to Saraikella and Mayurbhanj. The leading exponents of the Chhau in Saraikella have been the royal princes in Mayurbhanj, the lower classes, the rabble and Purulia farmers, tillers and the like.
Brita Dance (West Bengal):
West Bengal, the state which has given us many of our renowned poets, thinkers, artists, has a rich tradition of folk art. Brita or Vrita dance is one of the most important traditional folk dances of Bengal. This is an invocational dance performed by the barren women of Bengal who worship in gratitude after their wish is fulfilled. Quite often, this dance is performed after a recovery from a contagious disease like small pox, etc.
Kali Nach is another dance performed during Gajan, in honour of the Goddess Kali. Here, the performer wears a mask, purified by mantras, and dances with a sword, and when worked up can make prophetic answers.
Dalkhai (Orissa):
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The 'Dalkhai' is a dance performed by women of the tribes from the Sambalpur district of Orissa. It is quite a virile dance rendered during the time of festivals. The men generally play the musical instruments and the drummers often join the dance.
A dummy horse version is the Chaiti Ghorha, danced by a community of fisherfolk. The performers are all men. Apart from dancing, the performers sing, deliver homilies of sorts, and offer brief dramatic enactments peppered with wit and humour.
Dancing on stilts is fairly common among the Gond children of Madhya Pradesh. The dance is popular in the Vindhyas and the Satpura ranges. This is danced in the rainy season from June to August. The dancer who has his balance on the stilts (Gendi) perform even in water or on marshy surface. The dance is brisk, and ends with a dance in pyramid formation.
This is generally confined only to children and the attraction consists in balancing and clever footwork. In the villages where the wheat seedlings festival, Bhujalia, is celebrated, children prance on their gendis, collect near the village pond or the river in which bhujalias are to be immersed. Other children, dancing to the accompaniment of musical instruments join the group and they dance together. Sometimes, womenfolk also join them, but they do not use stilts.
The Gendi season begins on the day of Bak Bandhi festival in the month of June and concludes after the Pola dance celebrations in the month of August.
Goti Puas (Orissa):
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It was thanks to the pioneering efforts of Ramchandradeva that Goti Pua (or boy dancers) came into being, during the latter half the 6th century.
The last of the great dynasties of Orissa had collapsed and the Mughals and Afghans were in the midst of a tug-of-war. Ramachandradeva, the Raja of Khurda (a principality in Orissa) had provided refuge to Mughal soldiers who had been defeated by the Afghan troops, and was consequently in the good books of Emperor Akbar. He was designated Gajapati or King of Orissa, with allegiance to the Mughal Viceroy. He was also appointed Superintendent of the Jagannath temple in Puri.
Ramchandradeva was not only an able ruler but also a sensitive and enlightened man. During his reign, maharis or devadasis attached initially only to temples, came to be patronised by the courts. It was in his time, too, and on his initiative, that another tradition of dance, came into being - the tradition of goti puas, the boy dancers.
Another reason that traces the emergence of goti puas is that the women dancing on the pretext of worship was greatly disapproved by Vaishnavas. So to eliminate the problem, the custom of dancing by boys dressed as girls was introduced. The boys are also students of akhadas, or gymnasiums established by Ramachandradeva in Puri, at the boundaries of the temple. Hence they were also known as Akhada Pilas -boys attached to akhadas.
The mahari and goti pua dance styles co-existed, each independently, but with common roots. The Odissi dance as we know it today has evolved from a curious amalgamation of both these dance traditions.
The word goti means 'one', 'single' and Pua, 'boy', but the goti puas always dance in pairs.
Boys are recruited at about the age of six and continue to perform till they are 14, then become teachers of the dance or join drama troupes. Goti puas are now part of professional teams, known as dals, each headed by a guru.
The boys are trained for about two years, during which, after having imbibed the basic technique, they learn items of dance, ornamental and expressional.
The goti puas, being youngsters in their formative years, can adapt their bodies to the dance in a far more flexible manner as opposed to the maharis.
Needless to say, one of the most demanding aspects of the dance tradition in Orissa - the bandha, which involves intricate contortions and positions of the body - is the domain of the sprightly goti puas.
A goti pua presentation is ably supported by a set of three musicians, who play the pakhawaj, the gini or cymbals and the harmonium. The boys do the singing themselves, though at times the group has an additional singer.
The goti pua performance is far more organised than that of the maharis, and includes items like Panchadevta Puja, Bhumi Pranam and Battu. A goti pua performance usually commences with Bhumi Pranam (salutation to Mother Earth), and wraps up with Bidahi Sangeet, a farewell song and dance item. The whole performance lasts around three hours.
During the Chandan Jatra festival, along with the maharis, goti puas are ferried in boats down the Narendra Sarovar, a holy tank in Puri, to perform before the deities. The Jhoolan Jatra, celebrated every August, is the ocassion when the goti puas completely overshadow the maharis.
Today, the surviving goti pua dals belong to villages and some prominent groups are from Dimirisena and Raghurajapur near Puri, and Darara, near Bhubaneswar. In the past goti pua artistes were patronised by Zamindars and were much in demand during festivals like Dol Purnima, or Holi and Dussehra.
Like the maharis their existence too is gradually fading into oblivion.