Bhubaneswar: For many of us following a fitness regime is an arduous task but what if we could dance our way to fitness? Have we ever given a thought to this prospect? Studies have shown that dance is an effective form of exercise and can burn just as many calories as swimming, walking or bike riding. The amount of calories one would burn depends on the intensity of the dance, the length of dance and how much effort one puts into it. More or less, one can burn anywhere between 150 to 200 calories with just half an hour of continuous dancing.
Odisha which is synonymous with The Land of Culture has a unique folk dance to cater to this purpose, namely Ranappa dance.
Ranappa is one of the folk dances of the state and popular among the coastal areas of Ganjam district. The dance received its name after the bamboo sticks on which the artistes balance themselves dancing.
To delve into the details of this folk dance, Orissa POST interacted with Pabitra Mahapatra of Ganjam who is the manager of Ganeswar Jugal Sankhabadya, a Ranappa dance troupe.
Mahapatra said, “It isn’t a walk in the garden. Ranappa requires the patience of a saint. These dancers you see here are hand-picked and being trained from their childhood.”
He added that the first thing that the dancers need to learn is to “balance themselves on the bamboo sticks.” “It’s literally a balancing act,” he chuckled.
The grandiloquent dance is performed on the beats of ‘Dhol’ and ‘Mahuri’.
The dancers toil hard for a continuous 2-3 hours and oil themselves before every performance for smooth conduct of body movements.
“If you are stiff or your muscles are a bit tizzy, you may get egg on faces while performing,” Mahapatra said.
Expressing the tactful dance, he mentioned that the level of dexterity betrayed by the dancers can match none other dance form. “Quick as a flash, this is what the dance demands,” he added.
RAKESH MAHANTA,OP