Long before the curtain went up for the Folk Dance contest at the Aingoth ground on Sunday morning, T.T. Rasna had secured a seat for herself in one of the front rows. She wanted to watch the HSS girls perform from a vantage point.
Like Rasna, who belongs to Kasaragod district and a former contestant at district-level festivals, thousands had come early enough. For, they knew that getting a seat would be near-impossible at a venue hosting Folk Dance.
The massive crowd was treated to some lovely performances, too.
Varied themes
A wide variety of themes were presented by the girls in attractive and varied costume.
Besides social issues, there were choreographies based on Odiyan and Theyyam (that is hardly surprising since this is the land of the ritualistic art form) at the festival this year.
The audience seemed to enjoy the variety. As for the dancers, they loved performing in front of such big crowds.
“This is the best crowd in my four years of experience at the school festival,” said M. Swathika of GGVHSS, Feroke, Kozhikode.
“I was touched by the love and encouragement of people here.”
Her fellow-contestant, Aleena K. Sabu, from St. Augustine’s GHSS, Kothamangalam (Ernakulam), too loved performing in front of such a big crowd. “This is a dream come true for me,” she said.
“I did not qualify even once from the district in the previous years and this was my last chance, since I am studying in Class 12.”
A little later, she was delighted to learn that she, like most of the contestants, had won ‘A’ grade.
