Young Garo dancer, troupe miss trip to Spain

By Chean Marak

It is indeed a sad turn of events for Pearl Manapchi K Sangma, the 15-year-old Bharatnatyam dancer from East Garo Hills, when the Embassy of Spain in
Delhi turned down her as well as her troupe’s request for visas. Had it been otherwise, Pearl would have been the first from
Garo Hills, and probably the first from the state, to perform at the International Art Olympiad.
Pearl, who started dancing at a tender age, is a student of Pandit Deen Dayal Upadhyay Adarsha Dance Academy in Dudhnoi, Assam. It was from this academy that she and three other dancers led by their teacher Ellora Roy Das were chosen for the Olympiad. However, the troupe was denied visa because the team’s “intention to leave the territory of the member states before the expiry of the visa could not be ascertained”, said the official statement. This is despite the fact that all documents were submitted.
“Cox and Kings checked our papers and submitted. They guided us… We came to know about the denial only on Sunday and we were supposed to leave on Monday. If we had time, we could have tried to pursue the matter,” said Das whose troupe was scheduled to perform in Spain on November 23.
“It was a wonderful opportunity lost,” she added.
It is surprising that despite sending an official invite to the academy, the country’s embassy would belittle the efforts of all the young dancers by denying them the opportunity of a lifetime. With the troupe missing the trip, the state also lost the chance to send its young talent to the world arena.
Pearl, a Class XII student of St Peter’s National Academy in Dudhnoi, was heartbroken. But her parents were supportive.
“It is a loss but we are telling her not to give up hope because chances will come if she keeps performing well,” said her mother Senge R Sangma on phone from Dilma Apal in Dainadubi.
The young dancer already has many feathers in her cap. Her group recently went to Pune and competed in two dance categories where they bagged the second and third positions.
Inspired by danseuse Sonal Mansingh, Pearl developed great interest in Bharatnatyam. “In fact she is the only one in the family who is interested in dancing,” said her mother.
Pearl plans to do masters in Bharatnatyam. She is also interested in Wangala dance of the Garos. Her Wangala dance troupe recently went to Odisha to compete in a folk dance competition where they bagged the first prize.
Talking about the young talent, Das said when she saw Pearl, then a student of Class IV, she instantly told her mother that she would train her in Bharatnatyam.
“At first she laughed at the proposal. Later I convinced her. And the journey started. Now, she is one of the dancers in my team,” she added.

Nrityakala Academy

Das, who is originally from Dainadubi, founded the dance academy in 1998 to promote classical dance forms like Bharatnatyam, Satriya Nritya and Lok Nritya. Through all these years, the institute has won several accolades, awards and respect. Shatabdi Roy Das, a student of the academy and Das’s daughter, received the title ‘Nritya Naksatra’ from Bengaluru in October.
The team of Nrityakala won first prize in Bharatnatyam, Satriya Nritya and folk dance four times.
“There are many girls from Garo Hills who come here to be trained in the classical and other dance forms,” said Das who is happy to see her dream of promoting the art finally becoming a reality.

(With inputs from Nabamita Mitra)