Moving across time and space

Energetic beats

Indo Asian Academy recently celebrated its college annual day, which was a colourful affair and enjoyed wide participation from the students.

The programme included some cultural performances, including dance numbers that spanned different places and also time periods. It was a time for the students to let their hair down and have a good time.

Chaithra and Sashwati, the emcees for the afternoon, were chirpy and kept the crowd entertained while they were on stage. They also explained the programme for the afternoon — not only were there eighteen dance performances by the students of the college, but there was also a screen erected near the stage which flashed brief presentations that spoke a little about that particular dance and its origins. While both emcees admitted that this ‘lecturing’ could be boring, they said that it was important to know more about the dances that were being performed.

The show began with a short invocation, after which the students took the stage. The programme, which lasted for about two hours, featured eighteen different kinds of dance forms. First up was traditional folk dance. The students, who were dressed in green and red, dazzled the audience with their energy and sheer charm. At one point during the dance, one of the students wore a large Ganesha mask decorated with peacock feathers, while the others danced around him.

Next up was a more western and contemporary dance form — break dance. There was a short presentation on the screen, which spoke about the different moves in break dance: namely, top rock, bottom rock and freezes. Five of the students took the stage and shook a leg to the popular song, ‘Get Low’.

The students then took a quick trip back in time, and performed some retro Bollywood moves. Dressed in dramatic skirts and tunics, they danced to a medley of old Hindi songs. The performance had all the traditional thumkas of Bollywood dances, and had the audience cheering wildly.

Many more kinds of dance forms were also presented. All in all, the afternoon was one filled with excitement, laughter and a lot of fun. The audience members — which comprised the students and the faculty of the college — had a great time watching the different performances.

Harshitha, a II PUC student, said that it was an enjoyable experience. “I’ve been looking forward to the annual day celebrations for a long time. I liked it, especially the Indian dances. These were nice, since they showed us a lot about our own culture,” she said.