Shillong, May 21: From the beats of Garo Hills, the harvest prayers of the Rabha community to the violin-flute jugalbandi, the Amrit Yuva Kalotsav 2023 kept the culture cauldron brimming with local talents during its Shillong chapter.
The Kalotsav, an initiative of the Ministry of Culture and Sangeet Natak Akademi, has been travelling to several cities across the country and giving a platform to young artistes to showcase their talents.
In Shillong, the three-day event started on May 19 Dhrupad Vrind, Wangala dance of the Garo tribe, Ka Shad Mastieh of the Khasi community, kathak and an Assamese play.
The second day saw young musicians from Agartala enthrall the audience, which was a handful despite the popularity of the event in other parts of the country. Violinist Anirban Biswas and flutist Tanmoy Hrishi Das performed at U Soso Tham Auditorium, the venue for the Kalotsav.
The Hindustani music was followed by Wangala beats performed by Ringrak Agitok Sangma and Group.
Artistes from Kamrup, the Chhaygaon Anchalik Rabha Kristi Dol, were next to present the Hamzar dance, which is performed by the community members to pray for a rich harvest.
The dancers of Gitanjali Dance Academy, which is being mentored by renowned danseuse Monica Chanda, presented Bharatnatyam.
The evening concluded with a Bengali play, Shothe Sattong, directed by Uttam Das and staged by Rangamati Natyashetra from Agartala.
The cultural presentation apart, the diversity on stage was the most fascinating part of the Kalotsav event and this continued on the concluding day of the programme which had a gamut of performances, from Western classical to the rustic chhau dance of Purulia.
Sunday’s programme started with Aroha Choir’s performance and continued with Purulia chhau, performed by Bararola Shiv Durga Chhau Nritya Samiti.
The musical evening was enriched by the performance of Jaintia dance by the disciples of Silbi Passah.
The rhythms continued with Sattriya performance by Krishnakshi Kashyap and group from Guwahati. The musical performances were followed by a mime theatre, Vice Versa, by the artistes of Indian Mime Theatre from Kolkata. A Bengali puppetry, Prakrita Bandhu (True friend), was the concluding event of the day.
However, the audience footfall was discouraging. When asked, Dr Sandhya Purecha, chairperson of Sangeet Natak Akademi, said, “True that in other cities, the enthusiasm among the public was more. We did advertise in the media about the programme in Shillong but the footfall remained low. Next time, we will work more towards promoting and popularising an event.”
