Cumnock kids turn their hand to Indian dance moves
14 February-
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Priya Shrikumar and Jayan Kumar
Talented youngsters from Barshare Primary school in Cumnock joined pupils from across the area as they wowed the audience with a dazzling display of dance with a difference in Kilmarnock’s Palace Theatre.
Boys and girls from schools across East Ayrshire stamped and shimmied in the best Bollywood style to both traditional Indian and modern Scottish music in Sahasra - a stunning evening of Indian dance.
Pupils in six local schools including Barshare had enjoyed a series of workshops over four weeks with Dance Ihayami, Scotland’s Indian dance company. The Palace performance was put on to showcase the young people’s newly acquired skills and techniques in the art .
Young people in each school created their own different dance routines. They learned how to tell stories using expressive Indian classical dance hand gestures (mudras), facial expressions and rhythmic footwork sequences.
Doing Indian moves to Scots music showed how the footwork of Indian classical dance smoothly joined with the vibrancy of modern Celtic music. Dance Ihayami’s work is rooted in strong classical technique, with an edgy contemporary style.
In the second part of the show, Iyahami’s own dancers put on an amazing performance, including one routine where they danced and spun on the rims of brass bowls. All three balanced lit tealights in the palms of their hands, while one carried a pitcher of water on his head. As the lights went down, the trio made a stunning spectacle on the darkened stage.
The audience – which included family and friends of the budding young dancers – raised the roof with their applause.
Priya Shrikumar, artistic director and founder of Dance Ihayami said: “Ihayami means ‘I am here’. Because it is what I am doing – dance, I am here!”
Councillor Kathy Morrice said: “The Indian dance experience has helped raise children’s activity and fitness levels – but on another level, the young people have developed their respect for others, by acknowledging diversity and understanding more about a different art form”.
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