Jamshedpur: Tribal beats accompanied by traditional songs reverberated in the campus of Little Flower School in Telco as students huddled together to watch Santhali dancers perform Dasai, a tribal dance form of Jharkhand.

Around 16 Dasai dancers from Dhalbhumgarh regaled the students of Classes IV,V, VI and VII on Tuesday, the performance organised by Intach (Indian National Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage) as part of World Heritage Weekobserved from November 19 to 25.

This year Intach has decided to celebrate the week by educating Jamshedpur schoolchildren about Jharkhand's tribal dance forms.

An essentially male dance item, Dasai is performed just before Durga Puja, when Santhali men go out to the neighbouring villages to sing and dance and collect donations of rice and alms

"Dasai narrates the tale of two brave Santhali girls - Kajal and Ayan - who were kidnapped by enemies of Santhals in Dhalbhumgarh and how they were rescued by two male warriors - Durga and Debi. It is indeed an aggressive dance form but beautiful to watch, said Amitava Ghosh, co-convenor of Intach.

Dressed in white dhotis and colourful turbans, the well-built dancers showcased the strength of unity. With peacock feathers and instruments like madol, flute, dhamsa, jhanj and kartal, this turned out to be an elaborate and excellent performance.

"It was indeed a stunning performance, which many of us got to watch for the first time," said Ranita Karmakar, a teacher.

The dancers were equally delighted to perform in front of a lively audience.

"We generally perform in functions that are generally chaotic. We were glad to see the children enjoy our performance and also appreciate us. This is our small effort to preserve our rich heritage," said Dhanapati Kisku, a Dasai dancer.

For the students it was hard to take their eyes off from such a spectacular performance."It was a sheer treat to the eyes. The dance is really difficult to execute and needs proper team work," said Ridhima Dabhade, a Class VIII student.

Little Flower School has also chosen a theme of intercultural studies as a part of their International School Award accreditation from British Council.

Loyola School in Beldih will organise a Kharswan Chhau performance on their campus on Wednesday.