![]() An Oja-Pali performance combines narrative singing and dancing interspersed with dramatic dialogue and action. Impromptu play-acting is more or less integral to the form. The songs are set to various ragas basic to the Oja-Pali system and talas peculiar to it. There are no accompanying instruments except the cymbals. Thus, apart from being an accomplished singer, the Oja must be adept at dancing. The system has its own elaborate codes of mudras, gaits, and glances. As the singing of the various narrative and other pieces proceeds, the Oja constantly keeps the rhythm with his feet and simultaneously illustrates the contents with appropriate bodily gestures and facial expressions. Frequent breaks are taken to introduce explanatory dialogues, very often in a lighter and extemporaneous vein, in which the Oja and Daina-Pali dominate. The proportion of purely theatric component varies from style to style, being highest in the Bhaoriya and Mare-gowa forms of Kamrup and Goalpara regions respectively. |