Sattriya Dance

Sattriya Dance

Historian of dance, Dr. Sunil Kothari has been bestowed with the Madhabdev Award by the Government of Assam. It’s quite an achievement for a dancing historian who has spent his life’s work on giving credit where it is due to one of the oldest and most revered forms of Indian classical dance, Sattriya Nritya Shastra.

About Sattriya Dance

Origin:

Sattriya dance is a classical dance form that originated in Sattra, the monastery of Assam. It was developed during the 15th century by the disciples of the Vaishnavite saint Srimanta Sankardev.

Classical Dance:

'Sattriya' literally means in Sanskrit the dance of the righteous. Sattriya is considered to be one of the major traditions of classical dances of India. It is a composite art form composed of elements from other dance styles like Manipuri, Odissi, Bharatnatyam and Kathak.

Features:

1. This dance is one of the major classical dances, which originated in the country. The basic stance in Sattriya dance is known as ‘Purush-Pak’ for males, while for females it is called Prakriti-Pak”.
2. They have special mnemonic bols, typical Assamese music known as Borgeet, musical instruments like large cymbals, drums, colourful costumes, besides complicated choreographic patterns using various talas for each stanza sung by the vocalist.
3. Corpus of Sattriya dances consists of ankiya bhaona and also Ojapali dances in which the main singer sings and enacts abhinaya, telling stories and a group of dancers dance as back up dancers playing small cymbals.

Two Separate Streams

1. The Bhaona-related repertoire starting from the Gayan-Bhayanar Nach to the Kharmanar Nach.
2. The dance numbers which are independent, such as Chali, Rajagharia Chali, Jhumura, Nadu Bhangi etc.