Beyond Words: Inter-house Dance Competition

On August 1, 2014 St. Paul’s boarding and Day School held an inter-house dance competition in the school hall. The Gala celebration and the authenticity of folk dance , exclusively chosen from the four extents of India – brought in the feeling of Indian-ness looking back at the day gone by, when a trip to the extreme stretches – from the snow covered north to the peninsular south to the lush green vegetation of the east to the coastal west; when contemplating at the festival of the harvest season, and the celebration associated with it, brings in the feeling of unity- one cannot deny that St. Paul’s inter-house dance completion was high.

Sister Juliet with the two judges

The four houses, Churchill (green), Gandhi (red), Kennedy (blue) and Tagore (yellow) performed popular folk dance forms from across the country. Students of classes 9-12 participated in this competition.

As much as the competition was vibrant and fun, the rehearsal and practices were all the more fun in themselves. The participants all in colourful costumes and glittering jewelry and full of zeal made it difficult for the judges to mark them a little less than the previous one.The programme began with a short introduction on the format of the competition by the host, Mr. Kleinman. The judges were Mrs. Shrija Krishnadas (Classical dancer) and Ms Ranjita Chakraborty (Contemporary dance teacher). Altogether four folk dance forms were performed by the four houses. Each house had nine dancers and they got only three minutes to put their best foot forward in dancing. The first house to take the stage was Churchill (green) and they performed Bhangra, the Punjabi folk dance. Tagore house (yellow) performed a folk dance from Tamil Nadu following a Santhali dance by Gandhi house (red).

Pre-performance preparations

The last to perform was Kennedy house (blue) and they performed Gujarat’s Garba and Dandiya. The judges were really impressed with the effort put in by the students and the teachers. It would be a herculean task to congratulate each of the participants, representing their own house, since every adjective would be less to describe the sincere effort and endless energy. Participants after days of practice geared up for the D-Day, finally setting to “rock” the dance floor. The red curtains were accentuating, already illuminated stage and the colourful lights added to the brightness even a degree more.

After all the four performances, the principal Sister Juliet was called upon the stage to deliver a short speech. She too appreciated the skills of the students in dancing. Soon after the felicitation of the two judges, the results were announced. Gandhi house (red) was declared as the winner. Tagore house (yellow) came second while Kennedy (blue) & Churchill (green) secured the third position together in a tie.

It was not only a success for the students but all teachers involved. The hard work of the student and the teachers was really commendable. St. Paul's, thus witnessed what magic music, rhythm and footsteps can create!

By Shreeja Das (Class 11 C) & Jaismita Alexander (Class 12 C)

Pictures by Priya Chanani (Class 12 B)

Edited by Aryani Banerjee, ex-student (ISC 2006) & author of the book 'Little Longer than Forever'.