Shas­tri Boodan

A folk dance troupe from Ra­jasthan, In­dia, re­ceived wide­spread praise and stand­ing ova­tions for their per­for­mance at the Lax­mi Narayan Tem­ple in Freeport on Wednes­day.

Works and Trans­port Min­is­ter Ro­han Sinanan was among those who of­fered ac­co­lades, com­mend­ing the In­dia gov­ern­ment for its long-stand­ing sup­port of Trinidad and To­ba­go. Sinanan de­scribed the per­for­mance as “world-class” and “out­stand­ing.”

The troupe, led by Ra­jku­mari Rathore, de­liv­ered breath­tak­ing per­for­mances of tra­di­tion­al dances such as the Bhavai, Chakri, and Kachchi Gho­di. These dances, unique to Ra­jasthan, re­quire years of ded­i­ca­tion and prac­tice by sea­soned artistes.

Dancers Bhawai and Babunath Ji de­liv­ered five re­mark­able per­for­mances, earn­ing mul­ti­ple stand­ing ova­tions. Babunath Ji im­pressed the au­di­ence by danc­ing with a bi­cy­cle wheel, bal­anc­ing it on var­i­ous parts of his body. He al­so per­formed a comedic dance dressed as a rid­er on a horse while parad­ing through the crowd. His most cap­ti­vat­ing mo­ment came when he per­formed a flame-blow­ing act us­ing kerosene, a fa­mil­iar spec­ta­cle in T&T, es­pe­cial­ly dur­ing Car­ni­val.

Bhawai show­cased her skill by danc­ing on nails and bro­ken glass while bal­anc­ing 22 steel bowls on her head. She lat­er amazed the au­di­ence with her rapid dance move­ments.

The per­for­mance was the third of four by the dancers dur­ing their vis­it to T&T.