When it came to giving up their jobs and devoting their lives to art, there was no hesitation in the minds of the four brothers. And, today, they are a satisfied lot, taking the tradition of Chhau dance across the country and abroad.
3:17:53 PM Sukant, Sapan and Ranjit, having inherited the art from their father - the late Guru Lingaraj Acharya - are steeped in the tradition of Seraikella Chhau, one among the three recognised schools of Chhau, the other two being Purulia Chhau and Mayurbhanj Chhau. The brothers are the fifth generation in a family of traditional Chhau performers.
When Guru Lingaraj passed away in 2003, Shashadhar gave up his job in government service and his brothers too gave up their respective jobs.
``People ask me how I survive with this art. I say, I’m very satisfied as an artist. It is wrong on my part to blame others for the situation of my art. I’ll have to fight and develop something on my own. I’ve lots of students, even from abroad. And contemporary dance and even theatre are contributing to the popularity of Chhau. Also, we perform regularly; there are some 10-12 performances every month,’’ Shashadhar said.
Chhau dance originated in the cantonment of the kings. Therefore, the art form is interspersed with fight sequences - attack and defence, besides movements of animals and birds. Chhau has adopted the technique of Parikhanda, the martial art tradition of Orissa. And the dancers use masks.
Seraikella, where the form originated, was first in Orissa and then in Bihar, before falling into Jharkhand. ``Earlier, Chhau did not take up any theme. Now we base the works on stories. We even use contemporary ideas in it,’’ he said.
A total of 10 artists performed at the festival on Friday. ``Chhau is always based on ‘angika abhinaya’. The whole body has to act,’’ Shashadhar said.
Since mask is used, neck movement is very important. ``And you need to have a lot of stamina to perform with the mask. You might perform for hours without mask, but with one on, you will get tired after 10 minutes,’’ he said.
Another aspect of Chhau is that there is no vocal music, only instruments are used. Now, it is purely based on classical music and the instruments used are ‘dhol’, ‘nagada’, ‘kodka’, ‘shehnai’ and ‘flute’.
At his first performance at Nishagandhi Festival, Shashadhar remembered his first visit to the city with his father in 1975. Having devoted his life to teaching and performing, living in Delhi, he now longs to go back to Jharkhand in another three years’ time.