State Sattriya troupe for Paris

Theatre du Soleil, also reckoned as the avant garde stage ensemble of the world for its emphasis on establishing new relationship between theatre and the public, has included a workshop on Sattriya performing art in its agenda and has invited Sattriya artistes of Majuli to conduct the workshop that will begin from May 31.

The Sattriya artistes of Uttar Kamalabari Sattra, Majuli, Bhabananda Borbayan and Baburam Saikia will conduct the workshop.

Addressing mediapersons here, Bhabananda Borbayan and his team said that this was a much-looked-forward- to kind of opportunity to promote Sattriya culture at the international level.

It needs to be mentioned here that apart from the artistes of Theatre du Soleil, selected artistes of France will participate in this nine-day workshop. After the workshop, a 13-member team of Sattriya artistes led by Borbayan will present four dance programmes in Paris that will provide a glimpse into the sublime aspects of the Sattriya performing arts.

�Dance forms which lack the richness of Sattriya have captured the attention of the world community. But Sattriya despite its richness is yet to get its due status at the international level,� said Borbayan, observing that the rich performing arts of Assam have to be aggressively promoted at the international level.

�We will present Gayan Bayan, Isha Bandana, Dashavatar and Bhortaal Nritya,� informed Bhorbayan, mentioning that the dances are experimental so that they fit the stage and appeal to the audience.

Dr Lakshminandan Bora, who was also present at the press conference, said that various efforts have been made to give an international exposure to the Vaishnavite saints Srimanta Sankardeva and Mahapurush Madhavdeva, but it is through performing art that the teachings of the saints could be taken to the international community.