A Correspondent
Nagaon: Delphic India, the Indian unit of the International Delphic Council, organized an online discussion on Xatriya dance on March 8. The dialogue took place between leading danseuse Meenakshi Medhi and the leading researcher of Xatriya culture, Dr. Sanjib Kumar Borkakoti. Delphic India has been holding such dialogues to promote cultures in different parts of India. It may be noted that Xatriya dance is recognized as one of the eight classical dance forms of India.
Meenakshi Medhi is a Xatriya dancer and teacher with 14 years of experience as a soloist. She runs a dance school in Noida, offering both online and offline dance lessons, some of her students being from outside India too. She has travelled extensively all over India performing Xatriya dance, several of them on the Spic-Macay platform.
Dr. Sanjib Kumar Borkakoti explained the genesis of Xatriya dance at the outset, while also drawing attention to the fact that Lasya dance had originated in Assam 5,000 years ago, and Usha from Tezpur, Assam, imparted its knowledge to the rest of India. The birth of Xatriya dance along with the epoch-making play Chihna Yatra by Srimanta Sankaradeva in 1468 CE was alluded to. The role of the Xatras in preserving this dance for more than five centuries was also mentioned.
Meenakshi Medhi spoke about the distinctive features of Xatriya dance and how it differed from other classical dance forms of India. She spoke of features like arms remaining bent at elbows and the wave-like movements of the torso in this dance form. The predominance of Santa-rasa in this dance was stressed. Dr. Borkakoti also mentioned the use of somersaults in Xatriya dance. Meenakshi explained different items of Xatriya, like Suttradhari Nritya, Nadubhangi, etc.
Parallel to the dialogue, several students of Meenakshi Medhi also performed the items of Xatriya Dance in order to explain them properly. Samaira Arora from Greater Noida, Francisca S. Ruz from Chile, and Subhiksha Sarmah from Chicago regaled the audience with their performance of Mati Akhora, hand gestures, and foot movements.
Earlier, the programme was initiated by Yamini Telkar, a leading art specialist and chairperson of Delphic India. Jahnabi Phookan, eminent entrepreneur, and Dilip Changkakoty, North East zone representative of ICOMOS, also spoke in the program. Delphic members from different states of India attended the programme.
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