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| Artistic treat |
Jorhat, Sept. 12: Come January, the region will come alive in a four-day cultural extravaganza of dance and drama in Golaghat district of Assam.
The Nrityanjali Kala Kendra and the North East Theatre Academy are planning a North East Dance and Drama Festival and Nrityanjali Awards 2013 at Dergaon from January 4-7.
The festival will feature dance and drama of the region as well as classical and modern dance competitions. Seema Biswas of Bandit Queen fame is expected to attend the festival on the last day.
The secretary of the organising committee, Santumoni Sarma, said the dance competitions aim to bring into the limelight the talent of teenagers of the region. “We hope this effort bears fruit and we can bring out their talent and, in the process, showcase our culturally rich Northeast.
The competitions will be held in the categories of classical dances, like Xattriya and Kathak, and modern dances in solo and in groups. For modern solo dance, Assamese, Bengali or Hindi language songs can be chosen. For modern group dance, song and music of any Indian language can be used.
Sarma stressed that the songs or costumes should not be vulgar.
The prize money for the competitions will total Rs 2.2 lakh. The judges will come from Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra. For Xattriya, the judges will be invited from Assam.
On the first day of the festival, the Tricolour will be hoisted and the inaugural function and a souvenir release ceremony will be held. Besides, a children’s play Soop — Ek Prahashan (Silence — a farce), written and directed by Ashim Sharma will be enacted. The play was first staged at Akhara Ghar, Dibrugarh. It won two awards in a drama festival held in Mumbai recently.
On the second day, a play for youths, Sati, written and directed by G.D. Goswami, will be enacted by the North East Theatre Academy of Dergaon. This will be followed by a drama, Abhisap, written and directed by K.B. Sharma. It will be enacted by the Media Theatre Institute of Imphal in Manipur.
On January 6, Jyotishka Kala Kendra will organise an art competition for children of undivided Sivasagar district.
On the last day, prizes will be distributed and there will be a dance performance by Nilangi Kalantre of Madhya Pradesh and a Kathak performance by Guru Ritesh Sharma of Bilaspur. This will be followed by folk dances by groups from Manipur, Nagaland, Tripura, Mizoram, Meghalaya, Arunachal Pradesh and Assam.
The festival will be held under the aegis of the state department of cultural affairs and the North East Zonal Cultural Centre at Niren Sarma Smriti Pathar in Dergaon.
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