Kannur: The school Kalolsavam sparkled on the fifth day on Friday with the much-awaited dance items, including group and folk dances. Oppana was staged at the main venue from morning till 3 p.m. and later the group dance under higher secondary category which drew a huge audience. Group dancers thrilled the viewers with their variety of costumes, dance formations and musical rhythm. However, the contestants also had to shell out lakhs of rupees for their costumes and other items.
Mr Jobin Joseph, dance choreographer from Wayanad, who has been training students in various dance forms for more than a decade, said that he had four teams participating from Palakad, Kannur, Wayanad and Kottayam. A group shells out Rs 3 to 4 lakh for each performance. “Our students had set a standard in costumes and make-up for the group events in addition to the themes we select. This year we made costumes using expensive stones and tissue material for most of the groups,” he added.
“Ornaments have also been specially crafted,” he said. “For the last six years our students have been bagging the first position,” he said. In addition to the 14 teams, seven teams performed which came clearing the appeal procedures from the district Kalolsavam. “Group dance events are turning more expensive,” said Sunantha Suresh, mother of a group dance participant from Kozhikode. Last year the total expenses for costumes alone were Rs 2 lakh, but this year the amount has doubled. Apart from costumes, accessories, props and the trainer’s fee add to the cost, she said.
Nayana scores with rupee crisis on stage
Nayana Jasmine from Thiruvananthapuram scored with her mono act on demonetisation, a topic that none else attempted at the state school Kalolsavam in Kannur. Jasmine, ninth standard student of D.v.M.N.N.M. HSS, Maranallor, Kattakada, bagged the first prize in the high school category by presenting the problems faced by the people following demonetisation.
She began with the lines, “I am in queue, please don’t disturb me,” and highlighted the ordeals of the common man who suffered in the wake of the government decision. “I changed my subject a few weeks ago to deal with a current topic and be different from the routine ones,” said Jasmine. The girls did better in mono act than boys, said the judges on Friday. The other topics included harassment of women, children and dalits and the social media.
Dancer pays tribute to Kalabhavan Mani
The audience at the Kalolsavam venue was moved to tears when a student from Wayanad recreated the life of the late actor and singer of folk songs, Kalabhavan Mani, in his folk dance performance. Some of Mani’s folk songs were edited and mixed with the folk dance song written by Jyothish K. Nair of Chalakkudi, the native place of Mani. K.V. Sreeraj, Plus-One student of GVHSS, Mananthavady, in his 10-minute folk performance, highlighted the contributions of Mani to the film world and folk songs, whose death had shocked the art lovers.
He won the hearts of the audience and the judges at venue 3 and was awarded the first prize with A grade. Sreeraj thanked the writer of the song and said, “Jyothish penned each word from his association with Kalabhavan Mani and gave me a lifelike picture of the legend.” After his performance, the audience cheered him loudly.
Grievance cell quick-fixes complaints
The grievance redressal cell set up by the education department has so far received just 17 complaints during the 57th school Kalolsavam and all the complaints were sorted out immediately, according to officials. The redressal cell is working round the clock under a district educational officer along with a VHSE senior superintendent, superintendent and a computer expert. The cell’s functioning is monitored by the deputy director of education.
G. Sreeraj of GVHSS, Mananthavady, performs dance based on Kalabhavan Mani’s folk songs.
However, the cell has no power to entertain complaints related to judgments which would directly go to the DPI. “Despite many hundreds that came here with complaints, we were able to solve them within minutes. So far just 17 written complaints were received and registered and all of them were sorted out,” said Talipparamba DEO Balachandran who is in charge of the cell. A software developed by IT@School helps the officials to monitor the status of the complaint.
Butcher’s son enacts own life
Ajmal, the son of a butcher, stole the show in the drama competition in the high school section that was staged at St Michael’s HSS venue of the school Kalolsavam on Friday. Ajmal and his team from Peringode Government HS excelled with their play titled ‘Valuthaavaan kure Cheruthaavanam’ (To become big, one has to become small first) and won special mention from the judges. The boy, who plays the lead role, came to the stage in torn trousers with the replica of a buffalo and verbally clashed with another character who owns an elephant.
Ajmal (in shorts) takes selfie with his fans after his performance. (Photo:DC)
The crowd cheered Ajmal for his acting skills. He later told DC that he was enacting his own life with a different take in the end. Priyadarshan, director of the play, said, “Ajmal is a very active student and was unanimously chosen by the teachers for his liveliness to play the lead role. It was after talking to Ajmal that we created the story and added a message to it,” he said. The majority of the plays in the HS category were appreciated for their simplicity and strong messages. According to Jino Joseph, state award winner for the best drama, the directors had selected interesting themes other than politics. A large crowd had thronged the venue till late night to view the performances. The results would be announced later.
