Fairy tales, nursery rhymes, music, dance and smiling faces — children from schools across the city rocked the stage with their creativity and talent in events of rainbow hues
As a worldly-wise grandmother retold fairy tales to two children, there was something different. The wolves weren’t cunning creatures, stepmothers weren’t evil and there were no villains. A Twist in the Tale, a musical presented by little ones, started with the Little Red Riding Hood. From the onset, it was clear that there would be no characters of dark shades. Rather than being the Big Bad Wolf, the animal danced with the girl to Zoobi doobi and The Lion Sleeps Tonight and safely guided her out of the jungle. Up next was Hansel and Gretel, where the witch gave the siblings chocolate and together they celebrated by singing La Bamba and Twist and Shout. Both the stepmothers in Cinderella and Snow White were shown to be supportive and friendly and the grandmother ended the storytelling with the refrain, All mothers are beautiful. At the end of the show, Seema Sapru, principal, echoed the sentiments of most of the parents gathered. “It was brilliantly performed. Teachers have put in a lot of effort in this annual feature and to manage 467 students so well is hugely commendable,” she said.
Children aged two to five years gave some spectacular performances that left the audience stunned at the annual day programme. Titled Rhythms of India, the play school students danced to the folk songs of different states. They began each performance with a greeting in the respective native style. Through the act, they spread the message of unity in diversity. The elder ones presented a skit on Swachch Bharat, which was met with a loud applause. St. Xavier’s College (Calcutta) Alumni Association honorary secretary Firdausal Hasan, Delhi Public School-Megacity principal Indrani Sanyal, Delhi Public School-Howrah principal Sunita Arora and Montessoris of Calcutta president Rita Bose were some of the distinguished guests of the occasion. “Toddlers tend to forget very easily, so we had started practising right after the Puja vacations. Our teachers have worked very hard and I am proud of them and the kids,” said Hema Madhok, the principal of Little Scholars.
Students of pre-primary and classes I and II celebrated their graduation ceremony by putting up a magnificent musical and their own interpretation of The Wizard of Oz. The tiny tots, all excited to progress to the next step in their educational journey, sang and danced their way into the hearts of the audience, primarily comprised of parents and guardians. The highlight of the evening was the tale of Dorothy and her dog. As the young performers displayed their fine acting chops, the junior choir was pitch perfect and the synergy between them delightful. Before the musical started, John Bagul, principal, said: “There is so much competition in the world and as a consequence of that, we’re making the mistake of not letting the child express properly. They are losing their innocence at a very young age. Let the child be. He or she will grow in her own way.” Post-musical, the chief guest at the event, Meeryug Hall, a classically-trained singer and the wife of US consul-general in Calcutta Craig Hall, regaled the audience with a stunning rendition of Rabindranath Tagore’s Alo amar alo.
The annual day and prize distribution ceremony was themed on Incredible India. Students of the primary section staged a dance drama on the jawans who guard our frontiers. A play on women’s empowerment reminded the audience of the valour of Jhansi ki Rani and the like. The programme ended with a song of peace, Chanda sooraj laakhon tare by Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan. This was followed by a prize distribution ceremony for students of Nursery to Class V. “We wanted to celebrate the cultural diversity of our country. So we chose the theme Incredible India,” said Minnie Sengupta, the headmistress. Yashwini Nandy, a Class II student, said: “I got prizes in four categories — general knowledge, Bengali, effort throughout the year and perfect attendance for second consecutive year. I am very happy because my mom will be very proud of me.”
Evergreen nursery rhymes and tales came alive on stage during the annual concert for the junior students. Old McDonald had a blast as he managed his farm animals — sheep, cow, hen and more — even as little girls in gowns sang the song in chorus. The musical play, The Sky is Falling In, saw little Chicken Licken stomp around the stage with other animals of the jungle in the fear that the world would fall apart soon. Students of Class III staged a semi-classical dance.
Principal Indira Bhattacharya said: “Over 700 students participated in the annual concert. The collective effort put in by the students, teachers and also the parents made the concert a great success.”
Text by Samabrita Sen, Farah Khatoon and Prashun Mazumdar, pictures by Sayantan Ghosh, Arnab Mondal, Koushik Saha, Shuvo Roychaudhury and Ankit Datta
