Mahadev Mayurbhanj Chhau Martial arts based dance of India Sharon Lowen 1985

This choreography by Sangeet Natak Akademi awardee Guru Krishna Chandra Naik, my guru since 1975, was recorded for Doordarshan in 1985.
Shiva, God of Dissolution, is disturbed in his meditation and angered at the realization of his consort’s suicide after she experiences her parents insulting behaviour toward him. He destroys his father-in-law Daksha’s yagna (ritual sacrifice) and dances in mad despair carrying Sati’s remains.
Raga: Based on Desh Tala: Aprachalit-22 Beats
Chhau music is played on large drums, Dhol and Dumsa, and on Shenai, a wind instrument.
Mayurbhanj Chhau, from northern Orissa, is the only one the three main forms of Chhau performed without masks. Slow, controlled leg extensions and twists of the body and torso explode into leaps and turns to create a visual poetry of intense power.
Chhau is one of the most fascinating, yet least known, forms of Indian dance. Performed traditionally during Chaitra Parva as part of the elaborate rituals in honor of Lord Bhairav and Surya, martial vigor counter balances delicate nuance as vedic and mythological themes alternate with village and nature subjects.