WHO SAYS TRIBALS DO NOT HAVE CLASSICAL BEND? Tirap girl shines in Bharatanatyam It is the dream and aim of most of the students in the Northeast and elsewhere to join in medical, engineering or arts streams to shape their career with the fond hope of getting a white- collar job in government or private departments. Their parents also want to see their wards as IAS officers, Doctors or engineers. But there are a few adventurous young students who want to explore new and path-breaking avenues by choosing the unorthodox and unexplored courses and try to be different from the crowd. Ms Luni Bangsia who hails from nondescript Khonsa village in Tirap district is one of them. She had a keen interest in dance from her childhood. First she started performing and taking part in competition on cinematic songs during her wonder days of innocent childhood. Later Luni joined Kalakshetra Foundation, a famous classical dance institute in Chennai founded by Rukmini Devi Arundale. She learned Bharatanatyam for six years under many great Gurus and experience Teachers viz. Bala Gopalan, Leela Samson, Briga Beson, Shijit Nambiar, Shali Vijayan, Jolsna Menon, Hari Padman, Surya Narayan Moorti. She has also learned Carnatic music for six years. Luni, a bright past student of Ramakrishna Sarada Mission School, Khonsa is fluent in Hindi and English. She had taken part in Kalakshetra dance dramas like Chudanami, Vanagamanam Mahapatabhishekam and also in various other Indian dance forms. She had been travelling throughout India for performance with Kalakshetra repertoire including Delhi, Bangaluru, Mumbai, Kerala and interiors of Tamil Nadu. She finished her Diploma and post-Diploma with first class. Presently Luni is doing her Bachelor in fine Arts from Kalai Kaviri. She is also working at Isha Foundation as a Dance Instructor (Bharatanatyam). She has conducted a number of programmes for the students like classical dance (bharatanatyam), folk, semi-classical and also fusion. Luni wants to work in the Northeast where classical dance form is not very popular unlike in the other parts of the country, especially, the South to explore possibilities of existence of various dance forms and try to understand them and preserve them in such a way that people will know the value of their own art forms and ethnic traditions. In this context, Luni is desperate to create an Institution to promote, study and teach traditional art forms, especially folk traditions to the Northeast students. Apart from her prowess in classical dance, Luni loves her roots and the age-old traditions of the tribals. She is a keen learner and wants to enrich herself in every field. Earlier, she had worked as a student- teacher (Bharatanatyam) in Kalakshetra Foundation,Chennai for two years(2009-2011). Presently Luni is working as a full time Dance Teacher (Bharatanatyam) at Isha Foundation, Coimbatore. She has conducted a dance workshop in Naatrampalli at R.K Mission School, worked with a Western Dancer Aparna Nagesh to choreaograph a semi-classical dance for one of her productions, she had worked with a great Oddissi Dancer Sonal Mansingh for a dance drama on Kanyakumari and choreographed a dance drama on Shankaracharya and Soundarya-Lahari. Luni also choreographed “Thumri” from saint Kabir’s Dohe and a Keertanam. She is also actively involved in Spastic Society and Save Chennai Beaches Campaign as a volunteer. Daughter of T. Bangsia, Luni was born on 24th December, 1988. She is unmarried and wants to popularize Bharatanatyam and other classical dance forms in Tirap district so that the youth, especially the Tirap girls realized the importance and popularity of classical dance. Luni is indeed a path-breaker and I sincerely hope that the young people draw inspiration from her glittering achievements in classical dance which needs a great yearning, concentration, unwavering perseverance and the most needed willingness to learn the art. But when Luni Bangsia, a Nocte girl, can do it, others too can do it. It was one of the most memorable moments of my life when this young accomplished classical dancer Luni Bangsia called on me on 2nd July-2014 in my Khonsa office. We discussed on a wide variety of topics, mostly pertaining to music. I found her full of energy and enthusiasm to do something for Tirap district. I was indeed impressed by the way she articulated her views on various problems concerning our district eloquently and with clarity of thoughts. I could only assure her to do whatever little I could by creating awareness as I do not know a thing about classical dance. I have no qualms about admitting that Luni Bangsia is a pride and an asset for our district and our elected leaders should make use of her potentialities and latent talents by helping her start a Classical Dance Institution in Tirap that will go a long way in gainfully involving our restive youth. Let us shake off our smallness and come out of our cocoon of self made miseries to look at the big world outside which is full of avenues, opportunities and possibilities. We must be grateful to Luni Bangsia for opening our eyes to the world of classical dance which can be taken up as a career by our young people.
Posted on: Thu, 24 Jul 2014 06:57:11 +0000
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