Mayurbhanj Chhau dance form has a long history. Originally a tribal dance, which originated from the forests of Mayurbhanj in the 18th century, it got the status of a martial art form in the 19th century. Slowly & steadily Mayurbhanj Chhau left its martial character and mellowed. Under the Royal Patronage it received proper attention & direction and showed a bright future and utmost perfection as a dance of excellent style in the field of eastern art and culture of India.
Mayurbhanj Chhau- has highly evolved techniques of its own for which it differentiates itself from other forms of dance. These techniques of Mayurbhanj Chhau are based on various body movements.
Sadhya’s Work Based On Mayurbhanj Chhau Entails :
- Workshops
- Collaboration Projects
- Choreography Work
- Training
Some of the work undertaken in the past :
- Workshop with 20 different groups in Mayurbhanj Chhau in Birmingham, UK for a project in 2012 as the artistic director for the Moving Earth Project, presented by Sampad South Asian Arts for the Cultural Olympiad. (2011)
- Mayurbhanj Chhau residency in Toronto, Canada, as part of Kalanidhi Fine Arts Festival. (2011).
- Dance Intense in Toronto, Canada as Master-Teacher for Movement workshop with International Professional dancers. (2009)
- Workshop for Tanushree Shankar’s group in Calcutta. (2008)
- On Mayurbhanj Chhau in Oslo-Norway (2003, 2006)
- In Houston(USA-2002).
- On techniques of the contemporary dance form, Mayurbhanj Chhau and choreography with the Delhi based dance company-Danceworx (2002 & 2004).
- In memory of Jeevan Pani ji an eminent scholar on usage of Mayurbhanj Chhau for choreographic work (2001)