By Our Staff Reporter
Dehradun, 18 Apr: The morning bore witness, today, to various Young Folk and Musical Artists. Thirteen schools and more than 25 students came together for ‘The Virasat Sadhna’ to perform vocal, dance, and instrumental acts. The performances included Bharatnatyam, Kathak, Kuchipudi, and other classical dances. The programme aimed to connect the youth to their roots and keep the Indian classical culture alive. Raja Rammohan Roy Academy, St Joseph’s Academy, Doon International School, Flyfot Public School, Welham Girls’ School, Him Jyoti School, Gunghroo Kathak Sangeet Mahavidhyalaya, Summer Valley School, New Doon Blossoms School, Guru Ram Rai Public School (SD Road), Shemrock, Nakraunda, Tarun Sangeet Evam Vichar Munch, and Social Baluni Public School participated in the event.
Shikha Sharma is a kathak dancer and disciple of Guru Rani Khanam and has been performing across the globe and garnering appreciation for her powerful presence on stage. She has successfully acquired Visharad from Bhatkhande Sangeet Vidyapeeth, Lucknow, and Praveen from Prayag Sangeet Samiti, Allahabad. Moreover, she has performed internationally in Taiwan, Russia, Qatar, and 11 cities in Europe.
Ramchandra Gangolia was born in Ujjain, Madhya Pradesh. For the last 20 years, he has been performing Malwa folk songs, Kabir and Nathpanthi bhajans in the folk style of the Malwa region of Madhya Pradesh. He has contributed to Malwa folk singing and Kabir singing by forming a cultural team. He has given many phenomenal performances in Malvi folk singing at the local, state, and national levels.
REACH was established in 1995 in Dehradun and has continued to organise the Virasat Festival ever since. The aim is simply to preserve the value and essence of Indian art, culture, and heritage and to bring these cultural values to the masses. Virasat has been instrumental in reviving many rural arts which were once on the verge of extinction due to a lack of an audience. The festival has played an essential role in preserving and reviving our village’s traditions, music, dance, crafts, painting, sculpture, theatre, storytelling, traditional cuisine, etc. and bringing them into practice in these modern times, because of which our classical and contemporary arts have started being recognised once again.