GUWAHATI, May 4 ? Time is up perhaps for setting up an authority on Satriya dance form so that the artistes performing the art form can be made to adhere to some uniform code of conduct, or else, in the post-recognition period as a major Indian traditional dance form, it will soon land itself in chaos. There are many artistes nowadays who are expressing their eagerness to promote the cause of Satriya dance, but in many cases their attempts are confined within their individual limits so far as giving the art form a repertoire suiting a secular platform is concerned.
A good number of artistes and exponents of other traditional dances are also coming forward now to espouse the cause of Satriya dance. In their cases also, it is commonly alleged that they knowingly or unknowingly blend some elements of such traditional dances with the Satriya. Under such a situation it is felt by many circles here that sincere efforts should be there to bring in uniformity in the dress codes and repertoire of Satriya dance. In fact, there exists a uniform code on matters related to Satriya costume and repertoire. But, there is no authority to implement it. The need of an authority to implement the said code was felt more when young exponent of Satriya Prateesha (Saikia) Suresh told newspersons at a press conference here today that she had ?improvised? the Satriya dance and had, with the help of the maestros of Natun Kamalabari Satra, developed a solo form of the Ramvijay Naat for the purpose of its creative solo presentation. She, however, hastened to add that in doing so she was laying more stress on the Bhakti Rasa, which is the main distinctive feature of the Satriya dance.
Prateesha who learnt the dance form under the Late Rasheswar Saikia Barbayan, Sri Ghanakanta Bora Barbayan and Sri Haricharan Bhuyan Barbayan, said that she was following the Kamalabari tradition and she had so far performed 15 recitals of the dance form since December 1999, outside the State. These include her performances at the Malabar Mahotsava, Natyanjali Dance Festival, Dance India Taste India Festival, Sharad Dance Festival, December Dance Festival, Uday Shanker Dance Festival and Surya Dance Festival, she said. Scholars like Kapila Vatsayan, and exponents like Smt Sonal Mansingh had words of praise and encouragement for her, said Prateesha, also a graduate in Bharat Natyam from Rukmini Devi Kalakshetra, Chennai.
Prateesha also performed her Satriya recitals in the city on several occasions and tomorrow also she will be performing at the Rabindra Bhawan here at 6 pm. But she feels that Satriya dance should be performed more outside the State for the sake of popularising it among the artistes and connoisseurs. It is worth mentioning here that a congregation of scholars, Satriya performing artistes, Satradhikars and exponents from the Satras in early 2001 evolved a uniform code in respect of costume and repertoire of Satriya dance. The congregation held at the Srimanta Sankaradeva Kalakshetra, under the presidentship of Dr Keshavananda Deva Goswami, developed the code on the basis of the common features of the Satriya traditions of Kamalabari and other Satras. It also requested the Kalakshetra authorities to set up an academy like the Chennai Kalakshetra, Jawaharlal Nehru Dance Academy, Manipur, and the Odissi Research Centre, Bhubaneswar, at the earliest, as an authority for Satriya dance. But, it is yet to be materialised.