Bharathanatyam dancers seek a piece of Guinness Book of Records
Bharathanatyam dancers in Ghana joined other dancers across the world to simultaneous display the classical Indian art form in a bid to secure a place in the Guinness Book of Records.
Over sixty-five dancers made up both males and females, and drawn from the Ghanaian Indian community performed alongside 10,000 dancers in twenty five countries on 31 December 2017 to the admiration of their teeming supporters at the plush DPI international School.
The dance, which was dedicated to farmers, was led and choreographed by Mrs Ramya Pradeep, a computer scientist, who had fallen in love with Hindu mystical and mundane art forms.
The gestures; clasping and clapping of hands, tapping of the feet and gyrating of the waist, bowing and signing to portray devotion to the farmer, lasted about twenty minutes.
The skilled covered up the innocence of the new as they all did the well-rehearsed and synchronised dance.
Mrs Pradeep told the Ghana News Agency that it took her eight days of practice to prepare her ensemble.
Miss Shruthi Srinivasan, 15 years, and Master Sree Sarveshwaran, 12 years, were happy that they could have their names in Guinness Book of Records.
According to them, appreciating the lyrics of the song and philosophy of the dance, were key to enjoying it.
“The lyrics are like sign posts. They direct you and demand of you what to do at any stage of the dance,” Master Sarveshwaran told the Ghana News Agency.
Mr Mukesh Thakwani, Director of DPI international and Managing Director of B5 Plus, A steel Manufacturing Company, said Ghana was the only African country selected to part of the dance.
He commended Ghanaians for officially appreciating and rewarding farmers and fishermen by siding aside the “farmers day”.
He said most societies took the farmer for granted adding that, the dance which was in solidarity with the farmer, was a lasting tribute to people engaged in food cultivation and distribution.
Source: GNA