 |
Similar
to males doing female roles in Kuchipudi Bagavatamelas in Andhra Pradesh,
boys used to do the female roles in village performances of 'bhaona' (dramas)
since women were not allowed into satra style schools. |
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Maya
Rao's institute Natya Institute of Kathak and Choreography is the first
of its kind to offer a regular Bachelor's course in Kathak and Choreography
with affiliation to the University of Bangalore. |
|
As
early as 1949, Kathak exponent Maya Rao had choreographed a thematic presentation
focusing on 'Grow more food' and environmental forces. |
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In
'Silappadikaram' it is mentioned that ancient dancers were well versed
in all the 64 art forms. Dances meant exclusively for kings
was called “Vethial”. |
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Satriya
dance form and songs were confined within the ambit of prayer houses called
namghar and women were denied any role for centuries because of the absence
of the order of nuns in satras. |
|
Gormuria
satradhikar Pitamber Deva Goswami was the first satriya personality who
struggled to give a place to women in Satriya performances. |
|
In
order to help place Satriya dance in the classical dance category, the
late Maheshwar Neog was assisted by artistes Keshab Changkakoti,
Moniram Dutta Muktiyar and Rasheshwar Saikia Borbayan to compose and edit
SATRIYA NITRYAR TAAL, which was published by the State Publication
Board. |
|
The
popular king Rajeshwar Singha worked hard to bring the word Satriya into
the limelight by reorganizing the Satriya culture and developing it by
assimilating different trends of neighbouring countries like Thailand,
Myanmar and Manipur. |
|
There
are nearly as many variations of the Satriya style of music and dance as
there are satras. But the most popular style originates from the
Kamalabari Satra and the Mahapurushia Satra. The latter is the original
style developed by Vaishnava saint and reformer Srimanta Sankardeva
himself and continues to be popular with the masses. |
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The
'Satriya sangeet' or music style which was earlier known as 'Sankari sangeet'
was developed by Sankardeva. |
|
Satriya
music depends mostly upon the khol (or the mridanga in a few satras like
Dihing, Dinjoy, Puranimati, Secha and Telpani ) and cymbals ( pati
- tal, bhor - tal etc). Daba, kaliya (pipe) are also seen in satra circles. |
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