THEATRICAL REVIEW


By: Natasha Azeez
                           "Nrityageet 40 final curtain call"

 “We dance for the love of dance” words which will live on in the lives of the Nrityageet dancers. The curtains closed forever at the National Cultural Centre as the annual dance production Nrityageet bid farewell after 40 years on May 3 and 4, 2019. Nrityageet has been one of the longest running annual dance productions to grace the stage of the National Cultural Centre annually to mark Indian Indentureship in Guyana.
Nrityageet Director Dr. Seeta Shah Roath said, “We dance for the love of dance, the love of the arts, the love of theatre arts. Our grand-parents and their ship family were producing Ramlilas in the Rice “factory” in Bel Air and Turkeyen, since they came in the 1800s. Costume making, male dancing, dramatic dance productions have been in the family for generations.” 
Dr Roath explained that Guyanese will be taken through a journey as they mark 40 years of remembering and celebrating the arrival of the first batch of East Indians to British Guiana on May 5, 1838 through dance, song, poetry and drama in honour of the 
This annual dance production which portrayed classical and traditional forms of Katak, Urdu, Kuchipudi, Indian folk and filmy-folk. The annual show has provided new dancers with an opportunity to showcase their modern moves and techniques to its audience. In addition to the spectacular foot works and body movements, the flamboyant costumes made the stage of the National Cultural Centre come alive with every performance.
Additional captivating dance performances and short plays were done by members from the National School of Dance, Indian Cultural Centre, National Dance Compnay, and Ramlila groups.  
In its 40 years, the Troupe’s statement noted, Nrityageet has received a number of awards for excellence in the arts. These include the “Icon of the Arts” award from the Theatre Guild of Guyana; Guyana’s national award, the Medal of Service, for “Sustained and Outstanding Contribution to the Cultural Mosaic of Guyana”; more than six Guyana’s Theatre Arts Awards, including for “Best Dance Production,” “Best Costumes” and “Best Set and a special award for 21 years of ‘Exceptional Diligence in the Pursuit of Excellence”; the Madame Iffel Award of Barbados for “Best Dance Production,” and an award for ”Long and Sustained Dance Productions of Excellence” from the Guyana Cultural Association of New York. It was also noted that Nadira Shah Berry recently received an award from the Global Organisation of People of Indian Origin for being an “Icon of preservation and promotion of Indian and Indo-Caribbean Dance, music, drama, poetry, and providing a forum for Cultural exchanges as well as cultural integration of dance and choreography.”

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