Gumla tribal girls dance to Bharatnatyam tunes

Gumla: More than a 100 scheduled tribe girls are undergoing rigorous training to become exponents of Bharatnatyam, one of the classical dance forms in India. The girls are honing their skills at Ursuline Convent High School in Gumla under the guidance of Pranati, Sr Usha and Anita who have got their training from Banaras.
Most of the girls hailing from the remote areas of the district, study in other schools beside training in this convent.All the girls have enrolled into the dance class with an eagerness to learn it. Class VII students Mayuri Tete and Reshma Kujur who are from the villages of Chainpur say they enjoy dancing though the lessons are quite difficult. A few including Ritika and Augustina added that they have joined the class to become a dancer and dance teacher.
"Our girls perform dances in school programmes. So they should also know all kinds of Indian classical as well as folk dances. So we came up with the idea to start dance classes for the girls coming from tribal families in our school campus," principal of Ursuline Convent Sr Hirmina told TOI.
Three dance tutors including one from Bhubaneshwar who have got training from Banaras are training the students in Bharatnatyam while other forms of classical dances will also be started, she said.
Dance teacher Sr Usha who is also degree holder in Hindustani vocal music said there were only 45 girls when the summer dance class was started last year but the number of students has gone upto 123 this year. Every day, five hours of training is imparted to them, she added.
"The children from this area can't go outside to attend dance classes due to financial problem. So the classes have it been started here to promote the art among them. Training certificates will also be given to them year-wise," said Sr Usha.
Girls are taking keen interest in this complicated dance form and enjoying it. The dance will also help them in overall development, said Tirpurai Kashyap, well-known master of Bharatnatyam and pioneer of Creative Arts and Movement Therapy who is associated with Pranati.
Adivasis have an inclination towards the performing arts and they can prove their mettle in the classical dances if they are given the opportunities, she added.
There is wide scope in selecting dancing as a career almost as every ministry or department now has a cultural section and even in the corporate sector stress releasing initiatives are being introduced. The central and international schools also run dance teaching classes, added Pranati.