Born in 1970 in the family of raj gurus and raj purohits, Sukanta Kumar Acharya belongs to the fifth generation of artistes from the traditional Chhau dancers of the Acharya family at Seraikella, Jharkhand. After having received his initial training from his father Lingaraja Acharya, and later from his elder brother Shashadhar Acharya, Sukanta coordinates the Central Sangeet Natak Akademi’s project of support to the Chhau dancers of Seraikella. A winner of many scholarships, he has participated in almost all the major festivals of India and has toured foreign lands with his troupe.
Here, Sukanta takes a few questions on his art and the recent Sanskritik Utsav held by his family at Seraikella. Excerpts:
What part did you play in the recently organised celebrated Sanskritik Utsav at Seraikella? What was the idea behind the Utsav?
Sixteen of my students and I performed in the Utsav which was a first-of-a kind festival in Seraikella that was hosted by us. The Utsav is designed to showcase not only the Chhau dance in the three styles —Seraikella, Purulia and Mayurbhanj — but also some other major classical dance styles of India, such as Odissi, Bharatanatyam, Kathak, Kathakali and Manipuri. This exposed the lay people of Seraikella to the rich forms of traditional Indian dance other than Chhau. They were also able to enrich themselves by interacting with the artistes who came here from other States.
What are the difficulties you faced in hosting a festival at Seraikella, which is a small town lacking in the facilities of big cities?
This is our first festival and therefore carrying the burden of both performing and organising appearing to be an insurmountable task. We had so many people coming from all parts of India and we were required to put them up in suitable places. Seraikella does not have hotel accommodation and so we tried our best and put up the invited guests in our house which we had to renovate for the purpose, causing us some financial strain.
Our other difficulties were to get people to help put together the festival and get their full co-operation. The problem is, people who helped us also pursue different professions besides being Chhau dancers. With the positive energy coming from my brother Shashadhar (Acharya), we managed to overcome all these difficulties.
How did the public take to the festival?
The festival created quite a stir in Seraikella. The public was both interested and amazed by the dancers of other forms. The festival was an eye opener for our students too. They tried to learn the art of becoming professionals.
Have you ever learnt any other form of dance other than Chhau? dance?
I am well versed in the folk dances of Punjab, Rajasthan, Haryana, Gujarat and Maharashtra besides the bamboo dance of Mizoram and Sambalpuri Adi Nritya.
Changes in the air
Shashadhar Acharya, a believer in the inherent spirit of Seraikella Chhau, is a creative genius, who also aspires to be true to the tradition of the form that he has inherited from his family. The recent Sanskritik Utsav at Seraikella was his brainchild. Here, he throws light on the concept behind the festival.
“The concept was mine. This is the first time that a proscenium stage was used for a festival in Seraikella. Prior to this, Chhau Nritya was always held in open air. It always happened in a makeshift place. Four bamboo sticks were dug to the ground with a ‘chandwa’ on top to become the performing space. And the flood lights used typically failed to deliver what was intended to showcase.
But this time, the show had light design which brought in a world of difference. For a full view of the mask of Ratri, a blue foot light was used.People of Seraikella had not seen such beauty in their very own Chhau dance. For the Radha-Krishna dance, a mixed light was used while the swan had blue light. In the proscenium stage, an imaginative light designer plays a very important role.
As far as the future of the festival is concerned, my limit is the sky and I intend to make this legacy reach higher and higher for the generations to take pride in.
