Cultural extravaganza

CELEBRATING YOUTH

In a country which is known to have one of the highest youth population, it becomes a prerogative to rejoice this fact. The power of youth was celebrated and showcased at a huge scale when the youth festival recently kicked off in the City.

The venue being the Central Park in Connaught Place, the festival was an open invitation to all to visit and witness the diverse culture of India reflected by young artistes. The evening began with performance of school students who were dressed in vibrant colours and grooved to Maharashtrian songs while depicting state culture.

Keeping in sync with folk culture as theme, the children synchronised steps in machwara dance and laavni as they depicted the thakar community (hunting tribe), nariyal purnima (worship of sea), ghondal (worship of Bhawani Maa) and Lazin (martial art) – all encapsulated in just 20 minutes.

Vaibhavaree Mahadev Alankari, dance teacher at DAV Vasant Kunj, who choreographed the dance piece, shares, “It took us around two months to put together the whole dance performance as we first explained the lyrics to students in Hindi so that they can enact appropriate facial expressions to match with the song.”

Just when the audience got the taste of Maharashtra, their lay a visual treat in store from the members of Ability Foundation Unlimited who presented a well-choreographed dance piece. The differently abled, dressed up like whirling dervishes, spinned on their wheelchairs to present a sight beyond imagination.

Salauddin Pasha, the brain behind the recital says, “This choreography is a part of our efforts create awareness about differently abled people. The scene depicting Bhagvad Gita was especially liked by the audiences for it is symbolic of Indian culture which is an asset to the nation.”

A show by Ishara Puppet Theatre Festival and music performance by Delhi-based Ayudh band completed the day one of the five-day long festival. The song Ek pal thehar ja provided a soothing ambience.

Pravesh Kumar, guitarist of Ayudh says, “The song is our new composition which we created for the festival. It is based on the dilemma of living a hectic city life in Delhi and is hopeful of overcoming it.”