By Dr Tania Saili Bakshi
Dehradun, 8 Oct: Valley of Words Literature and Art Festival, in collaboration with the Young Indians Dehradun Chapter, is putting together an exciting opportunity for school students across the city to showcase their acting skills.
With the aim to foster children’s creative interpretation post reading VoW’s five shortlisted titles under the Children’s Literature vertical, the team has added yet another feather to its hat i.e. Creative Book Reading/Enacting Fun Activity tailored around this year’s shortlisted books: Jamlo Walks: Samina Mishra; Mini’s First Vote: Shabnam Minwalla; Bumoni’s Banana Tree: Mita Bordoloi; Aai and I: Mamta Nainy; Pinkoo Shergill Pastry Chef: Vibha Batra.
A fun packed three-hour session will be put together by over half a dozen schools from Dehradun. This open access event is being held at IRDT Auditorium, Survey Chowk, here, on 16 October from 10:30 a.m. onwards.
Curator of the event Jyoti Dhawan says, “Kindling the enchantment of reading books, the morning event will showcase unique and creative interpretation in reading, mimes and enactments by young students from across the city.”
Post lunch, Valley of Words in partnership with Young Indians Dehradun Chapter will set the stage for Iti Natya i.e. an annual theatre championship. This year the theatre competition is centered round the theme ‘INDIA@75’. Schools from the valley and beyond will come together to celebrate the vibrant spirit of nationalism through a myriad display of arts and literature.
Customised for students aged 13 and above, the stage will not only provide an aesthetic understanding of performing arts techniques, but will also aim to nurture the young minds, develop imagination and creativity, and assist them in the effective articulation of beliefs and ideas.
Fifty-seven chapters of Young Indians (Yi), CII are celebrating ‘Yi Utsav’ in the 75th year of India’s Independence. Under the same banner, Yi Dehradun in collaboration with Valley of Words has put together Iti Natya. Telling us more about the event, Harshit Gupta, Chair, Yi Dehradun stated, “It is Yi Dehradun’s pleasure to collaborate with Valley of Words Literature Festival to organise the first-ever Inter School Theater Competition under the banner Iti Natya on the theme India@75. We aim to revive the dying art of theater and encourage young students from various schools to take the stage and be proud of our country’s rich heritage through stage plays.”
The winning team under both the events will receive the honour of performing at the Valley of Words Literature Festival, a grand event that will host renowned authors, artists, and critics from around the world on the 12-13 November in Dehradun.
Staff and students of Mondrian High School, Brooklyn School, Oak Grove School, Maa Anandmayee Memorial School, Oceanic School, HimJyoti School, DIS Junior Wing, Scholars Home and St Kabeer are collaborating for the event.
