Mail News Service
Saraikela, Aug 30: It has been acknowledged through time that without performing opportunities and audience appreciation, a performing artiste dies a mental death out of depression and spiritual dilution. The spiritual part is related to artistes to home their art forms are their religion and the Gurus and directors their Gods. The spirits rise when they perform and the audiences the world over applaud their performances. They live on and for the stage and stagnate when they do not get the opportunity to perform. And this is exactly what the current status of performing artistes in general is.
Rajkiya Chhou Nritya Kala Kendra Director Guru Tapan Kumar Pattanaik has come up with a novel idea of boosting the sagged morale of artistes of this traditional genre that has seen changes through modern concepts over the ebb and flow of time. Guru Pattanaik has conceived �Sankalp: Ek Nayi Srijan Ki Ore� which means a pledge to revive and move ahead towards a new dawn. He is bracing up to take the Chhou dance form to new levels by performances throughout Jharkhand.
Guru Tapan Kumar Pattanaik said, �We want to ensure that the cultural heritage remains intact and prosper. We want to revive the spirits of the depressed and demoralized performing artistes. The main purpose of �Sankalp: Ek Nayi Srijan Ki Ore� is to get these performing artistes back in action while maintaining all the safety protocols and perform with them under changed and challenging conditions.�
For the project, the Kala Kendra has brought in Chhou artistes from the remotest villages of Saraikela to revive their hopes and aspirations. It is common knowledge among connoisseurs of the performing medium that acting and expressions are based on the nine mudras or expressions. Guru Pattanaik has amalgamated these nine forms into five moulds for Chhou compositions include struggle, new hope, new direction, new perspective and new perspective.
The Director of Rajkiya Chhou Nritya Kala Kendra observed, �The passage from the lockdown to unlock phases has seen several government projects being launched to put back people back on earning tracks but so far, no such scheme for the performing artistes has been forthcoming. In fact, a true artiste without practice and performance is for all practical purposes a moving corpse. Food is not the sole criteria for life of an artiste. As long as he or she does not get the appreciation of the audience, depression is bound to set in and life around becomes insipid. It may so happen that during this unlock period, there may not be full audiences in auditoriums. For us, this will be the new normal and we shall have to adapt our outlook accordingly.�
This new and bold initiative has been ideated to usher in new energy among the performing artistes by providing them platforms as a mode to keep the traditional culture alive and running.