Nearly 50 students from different schools in Kozhikode were travelling from one stage to another in the district from January 29 to February 8. They were part of a ‘Kalajatha — a group of performing artists on the move — singing, dancing, acting and telling stories to educate and entertain their friends in other schools.
By the students
Their performance was themed on life and on evolving to be socially conscious and civilised human beings.
The team travelled from one school to another performing what they had rehearsed during a 20-day dance-and-drama camp.
It was organised under the aegis of the Corporation and the Education department. The camp, titled ‘Kalimuttam-2010', and the performance-tour that followed were part of a comprehensive education programme envisaged by the Corporation.
The team was led by a group of young teachers and artist, who strongly believed that art and literature can refine, educate and enlighten the young hearts from the early days of education.
The young artists, who were selected from various schools, staged skits, dances, songs and musicals to a rousing reception from the audience at the different venues. A musical about Malayalam poetry from the early days of folksong to the present day was one of the main attractions of the three-hour show.
A performance based on the life and discoveries of the renowned astronomer Galileo Galilei and a docu-drama based on the history of Indian Independence were some of the other highlights of the show. An imaginative programme where the literary characters of the legendary Malayalam writer Vaikom Mohammed Basheer appear on the stage to interact with the author, was also interesting.
There was a folk theatre performance with a message of public hygiene besides appealing songs of scientific and inspirational content. The troupe performed in more than 15 schools besides a couple of public venues.
Experience
According to Mr. Devanandan, who was part of the project, the performance of students was received by all the schools with huge applause. For the students, who were part of the team, it was a great learning experience outside the classroom. “We were learning quite of lot of things outside the textbook during the camp and the performance,” said P. Anusha, a Std IX student of Azhchavattam High School, who was the captain of the team.
For N. Sajna, another member of the team, the whole camp was “more valuable” than what she learned from the classrooms so far. “I cannot word how much the whole experience has contributed to shape my character,” she said.
Theatre director and State award winner Manoj Narayanan was the director of the entire show while the songs and script were written by A. Aboobacker, teacher and the leading spirit of the show. The music was composed by another teacher, P. Manoharan.
According to Aboobacker, the whole performance would soon be brought out in a video CD format to the benefit of the students. “Those schools which missed out on the live performance can catch up with the show according to their convenience,” he said.
