‘Dollu Kunitha’ performers danced their way to glory
Performers who stood first at the Republic Day parade feted
About 160 school students from Karnataka, who stood first at the Republic Day parade for their ‘Dollu Kunitha’ (a folk dance) performance were felicitated by Minister for Primary and Secondary Education Vishweshwara Hegde Kageri.
The contingent, which was from three Bangalore schools - Government High School (Jeevanbhima Nagar), R V Girls High School (Jayanagar) and Sacred Heart Girls High School (Jeevanbhima Nagar) were trained for two months by emninent ‘Dollu Kunitha’ proponent Sujatha Murthy.
They were trained for one month here in Bangalore and for one month in New Delhi.
Vijayalakshmi, a eight standard student thanked the Government for taking care of the students. “We did not have to worry about safety and the Government made all the arrangements for the whole month,” she said. Another student Akshatha said, “Performing in front of the President and Prime Minister is a once in a life-time opportunity and I had tears of joy.” The minister praised the children for bringing laurels to the State.
“This is the first time that Karnataka has stood first in the competition,” Kageri said. He added that it was heartening to see even children from Government schools performing and competing with students from unaided and aided schools.
The Director of the South Zone Cultural Centre at Tanjore, K V Giridhar, who was also present at the function said that after seeing performances by other states, ‘Dollu Kunitha’ from Karnataka was selected becaused it looked like a clear winner.
“After this victory I think the entire South Zone will concentrate towards art forms from Karnataka,” he said.
DH News Service
