Bengali Theatre - Song-and-dance Forms

Song-and-dance Forms

A song-and-dance performance (nata-gita) is characterized by dances rendered by performers enacting characters while singing their lines or dancing silently to songs sung by a group of choral singers and musicians.

The charyagiti reveal that song-and-dance performances were well known among Tantric Buddhists of the Pala society. The song composed by Kahnapa (text no 10)is an example; it contains the words 'dancing' and 'the profession of acting' as well as in the concluding two lines of another song composed by Vinapa (text no 17) which contains the words 'dancing', 'singing' and 'Buddhist drama'. Sketches of siddhacharyas in Tibetan Buddhist monasteries show Vinapa and Sarahapa with musical instruments, while Minapa, Dombipa and Jalandharipa are shown in dancing postures. These and other references to performances made in Tantric esoteric texts (such as Guhyasamajatantra) suggest that song-and-dance performances, aiming at spiritual liberation, were held in secluded spots at night or in temples. These song-and-dance performances were given by a male ascetic with his female partner and were accompanied by song (dohas and charyas sung by fellow ascetics) and dance.

The Tantric Buddhist tradition of song-and-dance performances continued among the followers of the Natha cult in performances such as Yogir Gan and Yugi Parva, seen in Bangladesh today. A glimpse of ancient song-and-dance performances of the cult can be seen in Goraksanath's performance in the presence of Minanatha as recounted in three narrative texts composed in the 16th century: goraksavijay by Sheikh Faizullah, Gorkha-vijay by Bhimsen Ray and Minachetan by Shyamadas Sen, and a play-text, Goraksa-vijay, by Vidyapati c. 1403. Gopichandra Nataka (17th century), another play-text from the Nepalese royal court, further substantiates the contention made above.

Krttivas, in his preface to the Ramayana (1415–1433), records the popularity of song-and-dance performance in the royal court of the Muslim rulers of gauda. The so-called account of ma huan recorded in Ying Yai Sheng Lan (1408–1411) also confirms song-and-dance performance in the Muslim royal court. According to the Chinese text, song-and-dance type of performance were given by 'good singers and dancers' in gorgeous costume 'to enliven drinking and feasting'.

The composition of Srikrishnakirtan by c 1400 indicates that, by the 13th century, there existed among the people a song-and-dance performance based on oral compositions featuring three characters: Radha, Krishna, and Badai. The characters danced as they sang their lines. Like the Gita Govinda, these performances could be given by a single performer who would enact all the three characters or by three performers who would enact the characters separately. These were performed in rural festivals or during ritualised worship of deities in temples.

The existence of song-and-dance performances in the early 16th century is substantiated by Chaitanya Bhagavata (II, 18) which elaborately describes Chaitanya and his disciples enacting such a performance. Characters portrayed were Rukmini, Radha, her companion Suprabha, Badai, Kotala, Narada and his follower. One part of the performance featured Rukmini while the other, Radha. The spectators, all Chaitanya's followers, sat on all four sides of the performance space; the green room was situated at a little distance. At least one source of lighting was a torch held by a stagehand who moved with the performers. There exist only two more references to early song-and-dance performances within the fold of Vaisnavism. One is from Sylhet, in the first half of the 16th century, which may have given rise to ghatu gan of Mymensingh. The other, from the second half of the same century, to a form referred to as Shekhari Jatra featuring Radha, soon became extinct. By the late 17th century, these early attempts matured into what is known as Pala Kirtana in Bangladesh today.