Press Release
The Jawahar Kala Kendra (JKK)’s three-day festival, ‘Vividha’ began at Rangayan. The artistes presented the epic, Ramayana in a very unique way to the audience by combining puppet and ballet dance in a folkloric style. The puppet dance drama presented by the Rangshree Little Ballet troupe, Bhopal showcased
the cultural confluence of classical and folk dance on stage. The artistes dressed as puppets presented the story of Sita-Ram wedding and followed by their arrival to Ayodhya and Ravana’s slaughter. The faces of the performers were covered with attractive square shaped masks. Their colourful and captivating costumes, walking style and musical rhythm added to the charm of the ballet performance.
Along with the prestigious awards like the ‘Ballet of the Century’ by the Sangeet Natak Akademi, the play has also received International Festival Awards
in France, Poland, Holland and Mexico.
The play begins with the scene of a fair being organized in the village. A puppeteer invites villagers to be entertained at the fair. Gradually, all the villagers become puppets and start performing as characters of ‘Ramayana’ in
the fair.
The cast of the dance drama included – Pratap Mohan (Ram) and Dipti Mohanta (Sita), Monika Pandey, Padma Sonkar, Dayanidhi Mohanta, Upendra Mohanta, Sanjay
Ingle, Sapna Yadav, Kiran Maaran, Apoorv Dutt, Abhishek and Vipin Salve.
The role of ‘Sutradhar’ was played by Laxman Samant and Saulat Yar Khan. Nirupa Joshi (Group Leader), Ghanshyam Gurjar (Light Operator) and Deepak Ingle (Music Operator) managed the backstage.
The presentation featured music by Bahadur Hussain Khan and Abani Das Gupta and costumes designed by Gulbardhan. The songs in the play were written by Dasharathalal Singh and masks were designed by Appuni Kartha.
It is to be noted that the play was showcased for the first time in 1953 in Mumbai under the choreography and direction of the late Shanti Bardhan. The
play is being showcased without any changes for the past 66 years now. The heritage dance drama has also been seen by Jawaharlal Nehru and Indira Gandhi.
Global Fusion concert ‘Jog Jazz’ to be performed on Saturday
On Saturday, 2 November, ‘Jog Jazz’, a global fusion concert will be presented at 6.30 pm at Rangayan. The
concert will feature performances by the creator of Satvik Veena and Jog Jazz, Tantree Samart Pt. Salil Bhatt; guitar maestro and internationally acclaimed
jazz maestro, Matthias Muller and Tabla and Percussion exponent, Shri Pranshu
Chatur Lal.
Theater, music and cine story programs will be organized under the three-day festival ‘Vividha’. It will conclude with a ‘Black and White’ performance on
Sunday, 3 November at 6.30 pm at Madhyawarti. Entry to the programme is through tickets that can be purchased at the JKK reception.