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| Children of Aaddya Kala Tirtham and Prayas perform on June 18. (Sayantan Ghosh) |
Tagore, Bollywood and Odissi were fused to produce an interesting cocktail of song-and-dance numbers at the sixth annual show of Aaddya Kala Tirtham and Prayas at Ballygunge Siksha Sadan on June 18.
Altogether, 150 performers staged 23 dances, the youngest dancer being not more than two years old.
The first half of the evening was a tribute to Rabindranath Tagore.
“Raga with Rabi” saw a fusion of some Tagore songs like Phuley phuley with Odissi steps.
“Odissi is an intense dance form. To evoke an interest in kids, they are first taught some simple dance moves played to Bollywood scores,” said Mohua Roy, a parent of a performer.
And soon enough, young dancers, clad in colourful costumes, took to the stage, matching steps to Mere Piya Se Milan Ki Aas, All Izz Well, Rang De Basanti and also to international hits like Waka Waka.
Prayas was set up by Avirup Sengupta in 2003 to teach dance to economically challenged youth so that they can work as trainers and earn a living.
The guests included the principal of Ballygunge Shiksha Sadan Sunita Sen, the planning and development minister Manish Gupta, dancer Alokananda Roy, industrialist Sanjay Budhia and television personality Swagata Basu.
CHITCHAT
Together, for a better morrow
■ Teachers, principals and students of leading educational institutions attended the annual get-together of Faces, or Friends of Alumni/ae of Colleges, Educational Institutes and Schools, at Saturday Club on June 27. A non-profit organisation, Faces has conducted various social, cultural and philanthropic events since 2007. It also aims at bringing various schools, colleges and alumni members on one platform, trying to improve the quality of private education.
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| An investiture ceremony organised at the Calcutta Boys’ School recently. (Anindya Shankar Ray) |
“This is the first time so many members and institution heads met formally and agreed to work for greater causes, like area development, education of slum children and environment-friendly projects. Together, we hope to make the city a better place,” said Imran Zaki, the president of Faces.
One of the main speakers at the meet was professor Suman K. Mukherjee of Calcutta Business School. Teachers and principals also took part in an interactive session later in the evening. Altogether, 32 heads of institutions attended the event, including the principals of La Martiniere for Boys, St James School, Loreto College, Birla High For Boys and Mahadevi Birla Girls School.
Awards rain on Founder’s Day
■ Delhi Public School Megacity celebrated its Founder’s Day at the EZCC in Salt Lake on June 26. A prize distribution ceremony was also held. Students who had excelled in their board exams were given cash awards and laptops. A cultural programme was next on the cards. The students sang a Rabindrasangeet, Aacho antorey chirodin, and presented a dance drama, Meerabai.
The celebrations of the junior section took place in the morning. Six students who had excelled in the National Science Talent Search Examination, the International Mathematics Olympiad and other contests were awarded.
