Young at Art

National School of Drama (NSD) is currently hosting an audience that isn’t too concerned with the classics such as Adhe Adhure or Oedipus Rex. They have better make-believe worlds to sink into,now that Bal Sangam,NSD’s extravaganza of theatre,dance and music,has begun. Bal Sangam promotes performances “by children for children” and,on Thursday evening,the curtains rose in an impressive way.

Among the attractions was the “Folk and Traditional Performance” stage on which a series of dances unfolded from the Northeast. One of these,the sarlamkai,a tribal dance of Mizoram,was by boys and girls dancing in circles,carrying guns and swords. “This is the dance of head hunters after a tribe has successfully raided another village and hung up the heads of the vanquished on trees,” said choreographer Vanlal Huma Singson of Aizwal’s Cultural Club. All those who held their breaths during the sarlamkai exhaled as Assamese girls came up next,recreating a monsoon dance in which village women catch fish in bamboo baskets. This was followed by Meghalaya’s forest dance by children dressed in feathers and tribal jewellery and carrying waist baskets meant to store rice beer. Adults may have spotted glitches in the dance but the children clustered near the stage noticed only an exciting tableaux.

This year,Bal Sangam has included a new segment to celebrate the 25th anniversary of Sanskar Rang Toli,the arm of NSD that deals with theatre in education and organises Bal Sangam. Plays in traditional styles such as bhand pather from Kashmir,chhau from Jharkhand and yakshagana from Karnataka will be performed daily at 7 pm.

Children will also have more concrete takeaways. Across the campus are scattered hubs where with their parents,they can work on stacks of newspapers,red and yellow coloured bottles and even glazed paper. Craftsmen such as Ram Lal,a fourth generation puppeteer from Dehradun,are teaching young audiences their skills. “Pull this string and your elephant will nod its head,” Ram Lal tells a poppet. As the children race from one stage to another,wallpaper images of theatre stalwarts and famous scenes look on. Once in a while,a child stops and looks back.

Bal Sangam will be staged at NSD till November 20 Dipanita Nath