22 April 2024/
BAGHA NAACH – ‘THE TIGER DANCE AND OTHER STORIES’
As part of the Closing Ceremony of the Group Exhibition, PERICHORESIS, renowned artist Kanha Behera performed ‘BAGHA NAACH – ‘THE TIGER DANCE’, the spectacular folk dance of Odisha at Bharat Art Space Gallery, Gurugram on 20 April 2024. Kanha Behera is a painter as well as a traditional ‘Tiger Dancer’ from Odisha.
‘Bagha Nacha’, the Tiger dance is the traditional art form performed in Binka, Sonepur, Brahmapur and some parts of Ganjam district in Orissa. Male dancer paints himself like a tiger and performs the traditional ritual dance during the festivals and special occasions. The artists have to undergo rigorous training and have to synchronise with the musical instruments played during the performance.
“I was born at Sonapur, Ganjam district of Odisha. We used to paint mythological stories in the palm leaf. The local tradition of ‘Tiger Dances” inspired me and I used to portray modern contemporaries in my work,” says the young artist and ‘Tiger Dance’ performer Kanha Behera who has completed bachelor degree from the Department of painting, Govt. College of Art and Crafts at Khallikote, Ganjam Odisha and MFA from Department of painting, Indira Kala Sangeet Vishwavidyalaya, Khairagarh, Chhattisgarh.
He has participated in various art camps, art resident and Group shows, lives in Delhi and is pursuing the traditional art in Bagha Nacha (Tiger Dance) series.
Recently Gurugram witnessed the experimental abstract works of eight young talented artists. Artists, Rajesh Kumar Singh, Nidhi, Chitaranjan Moharana, Kanha Behera, Bipin Bihari Martha, Promod Baruah, Jyoti Kushwaha and Rohit Supakar exhibited their unique works – ‘a kind of divine celebration’, titled as PERICHORESIS, a divine dance, the dance of the Triumvirate of divinity.
