To mark the International
Dance Day on 29th April, the Leelangika Kathak Group, led by their
guru, Jhumpa Chakraborty, held a Tatkar Competition.
Jhumpa is a member of The International
Council of Dance or CID which is the official umbrella organization for all
forms of dance in all countries of the world. It is a non-governmental
organization founded in 1973 within the UNESCO headquarters in Paris where it
is based.
The
art of dance visually represents the tradition, culture, and music of the
people. Dance competitions bring to the forefront the true form of this
art.
In the Kathak dance form, tatkar
is a type of rhythmic footwork. During a competition the intensity of the tabla
beat is increased gradually and the dancers’ feet have to keep up with the
racing beat.
At the Leelangika Tatkar
Competition, the participating girls were put into five groups according to
their ages and all the groups were differentiated by the colours of their dupattas
– pink, blue, red, yellow, and green.
The competition took place
in a hall decked up with curtains of multicoloured dupattas by enthusiastic
mothers. As the full April moon climbed up the sky, the competition saw the
tatkar beat get more and more vigorous. The dancers seemed to have achieved a
trance-like condition of body and mind as they matched music and movement.
The evening ended with a prize-distribution ceremony and Ms. Chakraborty
awarded the trophies and certificates. In Group 1 (6-8 years) Jahnabi bagged
the first prize and Juana won the second position. In Group 2 (9-14 A years)
Anna got the first prize while Rupsa and Kena bagged the second and third
positions respectively. In Group 3 (9-14 years B) Aditi was declared as the
best performer while Shaivi and Vyatiba came in second and third respectively.
In Group 4 (15-18 years) Sneha stood first and Aditi was second. In Group 5
(20+ years) Anushaily was first and Zanam won the second position.
Jhumpa was
most proud of the youngest girls in the group and encouraged all the
participants who had given their best.
This report was also published in Muscat Daily, 3 May, 2018.
