“You dance love, and you dance joy, and you dance dreams.”
-Gene Kelly
Dance is an art that conveys thoughts, feelings, stories and more through graceful steps and expressive movements: our school, CMRNPS, values such art to an indescribable extent.
Our school wanted to create an opportunity for students from different schools to showcase their art and compete for the recognition they deserve; thus, NRITYAKUNJA was born.
The CMRNPS Performing Arts team, CCA Coordinators and Student Volunteers worked tirelessly to prepare the perfect stage and event. The two-day event began its course on a cold July morning.
The 6th of July, or Day 1, brought the students’ performances from grades 6-8. The SIX schools, CMRNPS, EKYA Byrathi, EKYA BTM, EKYA JP Nagar, EKYA Nice Road and EKYA ITPL, sent their participants in elaborate costumes. They crafted delicate props for their respective performances.
The student volunteers welcomed the schools at the back gate while the Head Girl and Head Boy greeted the judges at the front entrance.
The Judges on Day 1 were all quite experienced and successful in their fields. The first judge, Dr Jyolsna Varrier, is an Ayurvedic doctor. She is also a trained Kathakali artist. She’s also trained in Bharatanatyam. The second judge, Ms Sanchita Bhattacharya, started learning Kathak at Nupur Zankar under the tutelage of Guru Smt. Shila Mehta. She has performed nationwide in dance fests and conducted workshops worldwide.
Day 1 consisted of four main events Ekak Nritya, Samuha Nritya, Guru-Shishya and Yugul Nritya.
The student volunteers had set up the auditorium for the guests and audience. Students from lower grades all headed to the cinema to watch the performances. Ekak Nritya was a semi-classical solo dance event where the participants performed skilful concerts to showcase the beauty and diversity of our culture. The participants danced to rhythmic music with absolutely flawless steps and expressions. The loud and enthusiastic cheers spurred the participants, creating a lively atmosphere. It was truly phenomenal. After the first event came the second event, Samuha Nritya. Samuha Nritya was a group dance based on the theme, FIVE ELEMENTS OF NATURE. The groups of students danced to their beautifully crafted choreographies and portrayed the music flawlessly. The home school team, CMRNPS, and their instructor and choreographer, Shubho Sir, put everything into the show’s creation.
Following Samuha Nritya was Guru-Shishya. Guru-Shishya was a teacher-student duet. The pairs danced together, showing their mutual respect through their dance. It was truly heartwarming to watch. Then it finally moved to the last event, Yugul Nritya. Yugul Nritya was a Western duet. The participants danced to catchy modern music with equally smooth and catchy steps. The audience went particularly wild during this segment, with most students singing along to the music. It was electrifying. Soon after, the competition winners were announced, each category having different winners. Each winner was cheered on enthusiastically from the moment their names were called to the second they returned backstage. With that, Day 1 came to a successful conclusion.
The 7th of July, or Day 2, brought the students’ performances from grades 9-12. The participants came from the SIX schools previously mentioned. The day was significantly busier than Day 1, with more events lined up.
The judges on Day 2 were equally as elegant as they were experienced. Miss Isheeta, a graduate in Electrical & electronics and is trained in Odissi and Salsa, joined as a judge. Ms Sanchita Bhattacharya joined us for Day 2 as well. Our third judge was Miss Vidisha Ravindranath. She has been a Bharatnatyam dancer for the past fifteen years and a Kathak dancer for six years.
Day 2 had FIVE main events – Cultural Collision, Folk Fiesta, Mythos Ensemble, Duet Delirium and Face-Off.
The day they started with a cultural collision, an indo-western solo dance, where students showcased the fusions of different cultures. They were creatively stitched dances that managed to capture the topic accurately. Then came Folk Fiesta. Folk Fiesta was the Indian Folk Group Dance. The energies of Punjab, Gujarat, Rajasthan and more exploded in the auditorium, filling it with positive vibes and excitement.
After the fiesta, Miss Isheeta conducted a fun dance session where a couple of secondary school students and the kindergarten class went up on stage and had the time of their lives.
This was soon followed by MYTHOS Ensemble, a group dance-drama based on India’s ancient myths and legends. All of the performances were truly captivating. The performance by our home team, CMRNPS, was once again a true masterpiece. The participants did a phenomenal job with the dance drama, capturing the essence of their story. Shubho Sir was elated after the performance ended. The cheers were deafening.
The fourth event of the day was Duet Delirium. It was a Western duet where the pairs danced to well-known songs while performing advanced dance stunts that showcased their trust in each other. The students were yelling the lyrics or bouncing in their seats with happiness. The day’s last event was Face Off, where the solo participants drew numbers from a lot that selected a random song. They had to improvise a dance on the spot. The dancers here were truly innovative, especially in the second round when they had to improvise with random props provided by the competition. The dances were fun to watch.
Soon the day’s events ended, with prize distribution being the most exciting part. The winner’s got their deserved prizes and cheers. The audience provided unending support, and their instructors were truly proud of their students.
Even if some didn’t win a prize, all their dances were breathtaking. Their happiness while dancing truly shone through, making this event infinitely more special.
Snigdha banerjee
Grade 11 H
