DULIAJAN, Sept 10: Assam’s Sattriya dance tradition took centre stage at ‘Anga Mala’, a festival celebrating Indian classical performing arts, in Houston this week, bringing together established artistes, young dancers and students from across the United States.
Curated by Pallabita Bhuyan and presented under the banner of The Hindu Temple of The Woodlands, the festival showcased Sattriya, Kathak, Manipuri, Bharatanatyam and Kuchipudi, highlighting the role of younger generations in carrying Indian classical traditions beyond the country.
Students of the Nritya Dhwani Cultural Foundation travelled from North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Nashville, Chicago, Houston and California to participate in the programme. The Assamese segment included live Borgeet accompanied by Khol, performed by young artistes born and raised in the United States. Ira Sharma, Nyasa Buragohain and Aarya Sant presented the devotional songs, with Hemang Kashyap on Khol.
Kashyap also performed Khol Badan alongside Sanjib Bhattacharya’s Pung Badan, bringing together the rhythmic traditions of Assam and Manipur.
Nritya Dhwani Cultural Foundation presented a repertoire featuring Sattriya, Kathak, Devadasi Nritya of Assam, music, percussion and dance theatre. A key presentation was the Sattriya ballet Chitralekha, directed by Padma Bhushan Jatin Goswami. Sangeeta Gogoi, Rita Kataki and Suraparna Dutta portrayed the principal characters.
Before the ballet, Bhuyan performed Sutradhari Nritya, drawing from the traditional theatrical heritage associated with Sattriya and Assam’s Ankiya Naat tradition.
Priyadarshini Inman, founder and artistic director of Nritya Dhwani Cultural Foundation, presented the solo Prahlad Bhakti, directed by Sangeet Natak Akademi Ustad Bismillah Khan Yuva Puraskar awardee Naren Barua. The performance explored Prahlad’s devotion through movement and abhinaya.
The programme also featured performances of Kathak, Manipuri, Bharatanatyam and Kuchipudi. Inman represented Sattriya and Kathak, Bhattacharya presented Manipuri, while Benugopal Josyula represented Bharatanatyam and Kuchipudi.
The evening opened with an Assamese welcome dance by women from the Houston Assamese community to a composition by Jyoti Prasad Agarwala, followed by Ardhanarishwar, associated with Kathak maestro Pandit Birju Maharaj. Young dancers also performed Raas Leela.
The festival concluded with Triveni, bringing Sattriya, Kathak and Manipuri together on one stage.
The participation of young performers born and raised in the United States in Borgeet, Khol, Sattriya and Raas Leela highlighted efforts to sustain Assam’s artistic and devotional traditions among the diaspora.
The festival also underscored the growing reach of Sattriya, which originated in Assam’s Vaishnavite satras and was presented in Houston alongside major Indian classical traditions as a living art form embraced by a new generation.
