Excelsior Correspondent
JAMMU Nov, 24: Purvottar Dhara- a festival featuring artists from Northeast and other regions in which over 200 artists showcased their vibrant tradition, folk music and dance forms concluded here, today at Abhinav Theatre, Jammu. Organised by Sangeet Natak Akademi, New Delhi in collaboration with Jammu and Kashmir Academy of Art, Culture and Languages, the festival received repeated applauds from the folks of Jammu in which over 12 states of Northeast and other parts of country showcased their culture and tradition in the city of temples through music and dance.
The festival was an effort to connect the folks of Jammu and Kashmir with the diverse range of music and dances of other parts of the country especially north east regions of India.
Today, the programme was started with the sensational presentation of Lianda Folk & Classical Academy from Manipur in which the artists showcased Mangla Charan which is based on the immortal poem Geet Govindam of Kavi Jayadev. This dance depicted the praise of the great poets described in the poem. Secondly the artists presented Vasanta Darnam which is an extract from the first ‘Sarga’ of poem Geet Govindam of Kavi Jayadev. The piece portrayed in ‘Lasya’ the beauty and bliss of Vasanta Ritu. The artists of Manipur finally showcased Hari Riha which is a dance form taken from Geet Govinda of the first part of the last canto of the Astapati. The programme was followed by the presentation of yet another scintillating performance of Bihu Dance by Deepen Das & Group from Assam. The artists mesmerized the audiences Bihu dance which is an indigenous folk dance from the Indian State of Assam related to the Bihu festival and an important part of Assamese culture.
Performed in a group, the Bihu dancers are usually young men and women and the dancing style is characterized by brisk steps, and rapid hand movements. The traditional costume of dancers is colorful and centered round the red colour theme, signifying joy and vigour.
The third performance of the concluding day of Purvottar Dhara witnessed magnificent performance of Tapu Dance by Taho Mibang & Group from Arunachal Pradesh. The folk dance performed by only males during the festival of Aran. It is performed to drive away evil spirits from villages. In the Tapu War Dance, the dancers vigorously re-enacted the actions of war, its gory details and the triumphant cries of the warriors. This performance was followed by another power-packet performance of Siddi Dhamal by Sabbir Kamaal Siddi & group from Gujarat. The artists made everyone spellbound with their performance of Siddi Dhamal. The dances were full of fun and joy imitating animal movements on stage. All the dances were done on drums with bare hands.
The last performance of Purvottar Dhara made everybody spellbound with the performance of Khete Khan (Yuva Bismillah Khan SNA Awardee) & group from Rajasthan.
The programme ended with the vote of thanks Arup Bordoloi, Project Director, Guwahati Centre of Sangeet Natak Akademi.
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