RASHMI REKHA DAS, OP
A fifth generation Chhau performer, Sangeet Natak Akademi award winner Shashadhar Acharya cannot imagine a life without dance
Seeing a Chhau performance is like watching poetry in motion. Mythology, martial art, and music blend into a colourful spectacle of rustic yet sophisticated and liberating form of entertainment. Chhau is a mask dance performed by male dancers in Mayurbhanj district in Orissa, Sadheikala in Jharkhand and Purulia district in West Bengal. When it comes to Sadheikala Chhau, Sangeet Natak Akademi award winner Shashadhar Acharya deserves special mention. A guru par excellence and a dancer endowed with extraordinary skill in the Sadheikala style of Chhau Acharya has performed extensively within and outside the country. Recently, the Centre for Cultural Resources and Training produced a 54-minute documentary on him titled ‘The Face behind the Mask.’ Weaving between past and present, performances and daily routine, the film focuses on the life and struggles of Acharya, the fifth generation of a family of traditional Chhau dancers of Sadheikala. In a tête-à-tête with Sunday POST, Acharya shares the story of his life.
Born on May 5, 1960, Acharya was only eight years old when he showed his dancing prowess. Chhau dance came naturally to him. “I was born into a family of traditional performers and I was brought up among them. My father Lingaraj Acharya was a Chhau dancer and my guru. I used to watch the dance moves of my father and was influenced by him. This is how I was drawn to the dance. I was barely eight when I performed a dance item called ‘Kaliadalana’ for which I received much appreciation. It was then that I made up my mind to carry on the family tradition. Later on, being a fifth-generation Chhau performer at Sadheikala, I felt I should try to promote the dance outside my state, Jharkhand. I had seen people come to Sadheikala to research Chhau. My father and other teachers helped them complete doctorates in the subject. I thought if outsiders are coming here for research, why shouldn’t we take the dance to a larger audience outside the state? That’s when I left home for Delhi.”
Recounting the history of Chhau dance, Acharya says that Chhau is a combination of Paika and Gotipua dance. As the story goes, the erstwhile Rajas (Kings) of Sadheikala, the Singh Deos, many of whom were performers and choreographers themselves, established a kingdom at Porahat in 1205 AD.
The people of this kingdom were tribals, some of whom were hunters while others were agriculturists. The king then brought people of other caste groups to settle in the region. They brought along with them Paikas or warriors. After practising the art of warfare, the Paikas would entertain themselves by singing and dancing. It is believed that the Acharyas were brought to Sadheikala to be ‘Raj Purohits’ or priests.”
Acharya was so
passionate about Chhau that he quit three government jobs to continue his research on the martial dance form. He says, “Dancing was in my blood. I felt suffocated in government jobs. In Delhi, I started working under RatanThiyam at the National School of Drama (NSD). I had gone to the NSD to take admission. But when Ratan Thiyam found that I come from a family of traditional Chhau dancers, he asked me to teach my art form to students. I have been teaching at NSD for the last 22 years. The institution later
introduced a six-month course on Chhau. I also take classes at FTII Pune, Punjab University in Chandigarh, BNA, Whistling Woods International School run by Subhash Ghai, and Actor Prepares of Anupam Kher.”
Acharya, a born dancer, cannot imagine a life without dance. “Chhau is like my child. I cannot detach myself from it,”he says.
He then shares two touching stories from his life.“When my father passed away in 2003, I was in the US. My cousin had to perform funeral rites. The same thing happened when my mother died. She died in 2007 when I, along with my four brothers, was in Japan. I was about to go onstage when I got a phone call and came to know of her death. I did not let my siblings know so that they could give their best on stage. After discussing with the sponsors, I left for India at midnight leaving my brothers there to carry on with the performances. By the time I reached Orissa, her funeral rites had been performed,” he remembers with sadness.
What’s it like to teach dance to actors? “I primarily teach Angika Abhinaya. In the ancient Indian tradition, there are four types of abhinaya or acting — Vachika, Angika, Aharya and Sattvika. My work is to teach the Angika part of acting, which is called physical theatre in the modern world. The language of physical theatre is universal. Whether in India or in the Russia, people understand body language. The barrier of spoken language that is present in realistic theatre, which depends more on dialogues, can be broken by physical theatre. If we apply Angika Abhinaya techniques to recreate some folk texts, it will be easy for the international audience to appreciate.”
Acharya, who attributes his success to his father and other gurus Kedarnath Sahu, Rajkumar Suddhendra Narayan Singh Deo, B.B. Patnaik, and Guru Bikram Kumbhakar, explains the significance of using masks in Chhau: “Masks were introduced so that you forget your real identity and get into the role you are portraying. Initially, these masks were made of leaves, later wood was introduced.After that other materials like pumpkin skin and bamboo began to be used.”
Feathers in his cap
Sangeet Natak Akademi Award, 2004
Rajkiya Samman by Jharkhand Government, 2005
Guru Dev Prasad Das Samman, 2013 by Tridhara
Gaurav Puraskar by Sarfojiraje Bhosale Centre Mumbai, 2014
Lifetime Achievement Award by Government of Jharkhand, 2015
Guru Shrihari Nayak Samman by Angika, 2016
Natya Chatena Samman by Natya Chatena, 2016
