Punjab dance at UTT

The training was conducted by Shri Ashwani Kumar Sharma and members of the Asian Punjabi Folk Dance Club from India. The aim of the Asian Punjabi Folk Dance Club is to safeguard the timeless heritage of Punjab while promoting cultural entrepreneurship.

The 12-member dance troupe was in Trinidad, on a seven-day visit from November 28 to December 4, as part of ongoing cultural exchange initiatives with India.

The group’s visit was the first of its kind to the Caribbean region. This cultural exchange was facilitated by the Ministry of Community Development, Culture and the Arts in collaboration with the High Commission of India and the Mahatma Gandhi Institute for Cultural Co-operation.

More than 25 dance students and lecturers from the Dance Department at the UTT attended the workshop held at the UTT Campus at NAPA, Port-of-Spain, last Thursday. The programme began with an explanation of the traditional musical instruments of Punjab such as the been (the snake charmer’s instrument), sap, kato and khundra.

Then, there were a series of demonstrations of the Punjab dance styles with emphasis on the bhangra, folk orchestra, Malwai Giddha, harvesting dance “Kirti Di Kuli”, Jawabi Chaallan and the solo folk dance. Additionally, students were given the opportunity to interact with the artists and obtain hands-on experience.

The workshop concluded with Nancy Herrera, head of the Dance Department thanking the group for sharing their culture and creativity.