“A labour of love for arts,” is how the producers of the well known annual Nrityageet aptly describe the production which will celebrate 30 years when its dancers take to the National Cultural Centre stage on May 2 and 3 in commemoration of Arrival Day.
The stage show is produced by the Nadira and Indranie Shah Dance Troupe and directed by Dr Seeta Shah Roath. The production is a family ‘business’.
Nadira recalls that the production was born out of her being taken by her mother, Bhanmattee Shah, for their usual vacation in Trinidad where she was asked to perform for the East Indian Day celebration in that country. She was a big hit and was even mistaken for an Indian national. During the trip she discussed with her mother about doing a production here, and on their return set about planning it with her sister Indranie.
And so Nrityageet, a word that means pure song and dance, was born 30 years ago.
“It was not easy to put the show together even though we were including a major feature dance drama called Dasavatar – the ten incarnations of Lord Vishnu. It was however, very difficult to get the sponsors to support two teenage girls. Many thought it was a pie in the sky as we told them we were going to continue it as an annual production. We got out share of boycotts from well established organisations but this did not dampen our enthusiasm,” Nadira reflects in a programme set to be distributed on the upcoming nights the production would be staged.
A ‘pie in the sky’ it was not as the first Nrityageet was said to be a success and it grew from strength to strength. “The creative talent of the entire Shah family poured into making the production truly Guyanese,” the programme said as it was Seeta who brought her expertise to the production adding Guyana’s cultural diversity with her drama, poetry, and theatre arts. The production was moved to the cultural centre after the first year.
But it is their mother Bhanmattee who has been the main inspiration and organiser from the beginning. And even though she has gotten down in age Bhanmattee still designs all the costumes for the production and is the sewing mistress.
The producers of the show have boasted that over the years they have used their talents and experience in dance and theatre arts to “present the history and culture of our ancestors, our visions, moods, ideas, experiments in dance, costumes, music, stage, sets, lights, sound and special effects to add to intricate dance sequences…”
The 21st production of Nrityageet was recognised for its ‘Exceptional Diligence in the Pursuit of Excellence’ by the Guyana Theatre Arts Awards and for ‘Best Dance Production’ in 2004, 2003, 2002, 2000 and 1997. It was also awarded for the “Best Sets’ in 2003, 2004 and 2002. Nrityageet was also awarded by the Madame Iffel Award of Barbados while the Nadira and Indranie Shah Dance troupe received a Medal of Service (MS) award nationally for ‘Sustained and Outstanding Contribution to the cultural Mosaic of Guyana’ and the New York Folk Festival Award for ‘Long and Sustained Dance Productions of Excellence.’
“We dance for the love of dance and the satisfaction of producing a dance programme that is truly Guyanese, South American and Caribbean,” the producers said.
It was noted that over the years a number of the production’s senior dancers represented Guyana through performances and workshops in a number of countries around the world.
