Costume, Ornamentation and Stage Presentation
Domain 6 - Costume, Ornamentation and Stage Presentation
This domain tests the vocabulary of dress and the logic of moving a courtyard dance onto a stage.
Women's dress
Mekhela chador - the two-piece drape (mekhela below, chador above), in muga or pat silk, conventionally red-and-white or another bright combination, with pleats and tuck arranged so feet and the jeng stay visible. The riha, a narrow woven cloth, is worn across the upper body. Hair is dressed with the kopou orchid.
Ornaments
Use the names precisely: junbiri (head ornament), keru (earrings), thuriya (ear flowers), gaamkharu (bangles). Ornaments must be secured for turns and leaps.
Men's dress
Suria (dhoti) with chepan/chapkan, a gamosa at the waist, the tongali belt, often a paguri turban; the dhol is slung so it does not foul the arm.
Stage presentation
Traditional space is the open courtyard with audience on all sides; a proscenium demands decisions - entry and exit, a floor pattern that keeps the dholia visible, lighting that does not flatten red silk, spacing so ornaments do not snag, amplification that does not bury the dhol.
Worked example. "Why is the mekhela chador pleated close to the body for dance?" Because the vocabulary is footwork plus hip sway; loose drapery hides the line and risks tripping, so the tuck is functional, not decorative.
Traps. Describing the mekhela chador as one cloth; importing Sattriya's restrained costume; forgetting the riha; listing ornaments without saying where each is worn.