Music makes a heady mix at TOI International Folk Festival

A heady mélange of colour, drum beats and a primal war dance threw a spell over the Sunday audience at The Times of India International Folk Festival, as artistes from Purulia enacted the mythological tale of Mahishasura Badh (slaying of demon king Mahishasura). It was the Chhau, the mask dance. There was no music or narration through the 90-minute performance; just taut body language telling the story of Brahma, Vishnu, Maheshwara, Ma Durga on her lion, battling Mahishasura. Accompanied by 15 artistes, the team was led by Tarapada Rajak.The programme began with a peacock rider starting the dance with Ganesha, and ended with a war sequence involving Ganesha, Karthi, Lakshmi, Saraswati and Durga.The Chhau dance is a folk form found in Odisha (Mayurbhanj), Jharkhand (Seraikella) and West Bengal (Purulia). Almost every fami ly in Purulia masters the nuances of the Chhau.Get Mesmerized, a solo opera by Unni Løvlid, gave a glimpse of Norwegian culture. Lovlid rendered a melodious wedding song, lullaby, dance tune and love songs.Eastern Rhythms, a Sattriya folk dance by Jatin Goswami and his team, introduced the au dience to Assamese culture on a rainy afternoon at the Jayamahal Palace. Clad in white traditional attire, ar tistes with khol (drum) and taal (cymbol) began the programme with Gayan Bayan, a taal-drum orchestra.This dance was followed by Ramakatha, a chali nritya where the woman artiste gave a glimpse of the Ramayana with excellent ex pressions. The rest of the Ramayana episodes kept the audience in rapt attention with excellent talas, ragas and choreography.The musical programme, Seeking the Beloved, was a ren dition of love, longing and mys ticism by the Waee singers of the Kutch and Mooralaala Marwada. a.As art and culture bloo med inside, families we re enterta ined by drummers from Rajasthan and a Kam sale team from Banga lore giving some exu berant per formances.