Today’s Independence Day 2021 Google Doodle has been illustrated by Kolkata-based artist Sayan Mukherjee. It features diverse forms of classical dance.
India Independence Day 2021 Google Doodle Today: Google celebrated India's 75th Independence Day with a special Doodle that illustrates traditional dance forms spanning across the country.
Smashing Patriarchy: The Women Behind India’s Chhau dance
Smashing Patriarchy: The Women Behind India’s Chhau dance
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KOLKATA The year was 1979. Ileana Citaristi, an Italy-born Odissi exponent, had just arrived in India. She was visiting Delhi as her Odissi (a classical Indian dance form) trainer, Guru Kelucharan Mohapatra, was conducting workshops in the Indian capital.
One day, she walked into a room at Delhi’s Shriram Bharatiya Kala Kendra (an Indian cultural institution) and was mesmerized by an Indian woman dancing beautifully.
“An old man was also there, playing the drum,” remembers Citaristi, “I didn’t know which dance form she was practising. The performers then explained to me that she was performing Chhau from Odisha.”
Updated:
January 03, 2021 10:21 IST
Chhau dance, with its martial origin and strenuous body movements, was once a strictly-guarded male domain. Now several all-women troupes are all the rage
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Chhau is her life and identity, says 23 -year- old Mousumi Chowdhury, who set up the first all women Chhau troupe in Purulia, West Bengal, in 2010 | Photo Credit:
Banglanatak dot com
Chhau dance, with its martial origin and strenuous body movements, was once a strictly-guarded male domain. Now several all-women troupes are all the rage
There’s a proverb in the Santhali language that goes: ‘When we talk, we sing; when we walk, we dance.’ It suggests how dancing and singing are intrinsic to the Santhal community, which makes up most of West Bengal’s Purulia district. One of the poorest districts of Bengal, Purulia has been ravaged by Maoist insurgency, but even in the worst of times, it has clung steadfastly to its lively tradition of Chhau dance, which, with i
The mask is the pivotal part of Purulia Chhau
Updated:
Updated:
January 01, 2021 16:48 IST
Each dancer’s mask is unique, made according to his or her facial measurements by their trusted craftsmen, who work in close collaboration with the troupes
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A craftsman at work in Charida, in Purulia, the hub of Chhau maskmaking
| Photo Credit:
Banglanatak dot com
Each dancer’s mask is unique, made according to his or her facial measurements by their trusted craftsmen, who work in close collaboration with the troupes
This quiet, unassuming village in Purulia can give you the shivers. Wherever you go, there are faces staring at you from the walls of shops and houses some angry, some blissful, some growling menacingly, their sharp teeth showing. The smooth walls of the simple mud houses contrast sharply with the bright colours and dazzling coronets of these heads, adding to the sense of disorientation.