Paras Ra­moutar

A mix­ture of lo­cal and for­eign tal­ent will ex­plode on the stage dur­ing the 23rd an­nu­al Di­vali Na­gar cel­e­bra­tions at En­deav­our, Ch­agua­nas, Oc­to­ber 8 to 16. Di­vali Na­gar is an an­nu­al cel­e­bra­tion or­gan­ised by the Na­tion­al Coun­cil of In­di­an Cul­ture (NCIC). One of the high­lights of this pre­sen­ta­tion will be the Shubra Bhard­waj's Folk Dance/Mu­sic Group of In­dia, and their par­tic­i­pa­tion is be­ing co-or­di­nat­ed by In­di­an High Com­mis­sion and Ma­hat­ma Gand­hi In­sti­tute for Cul­tur­al Co-op­er­a­tion. More than 100,000 pa­trons are pro­ject­ed to vis­it the Na­gar by the time it clos­es its gate on Fri­day, Oc­to­ber 16. Vice-Pres­i­dent of Suri­name, Ram­di­en Sard­joe, will be the chief guest and will de­liv­er the fea­ture ad­dress.

In­di­an High Com­mis­sion­er, Shri Malay Mishra, NCIC's Pres­i­dent, De­ok­ien­anan Shar­ma, and May­or of Ch­agua­nas, Natasha Navas, will al­so ad­dress the open­ing night au­di­ence. Theme of this year's cel­e­bra­tions is "The Hin­du Con­cept of God." Pa­trons on the open­ing night, Thurs­day, Oc­to­ber 8, will see a dance de­pict­ing the var­i­ous in­car­na­tions of God, chore­o­graphed by Poo­ja Mal­ho­tra, Ma­hat­ma Gand­hi In­sti­tute for Cul­tur­al Co-op­er­a­tion, T&TEC Na­da Sangam Steel Or­ches­tra, Trop­i­cal Pow­er Coun­try Boys Tas­sa Group, Sasha Balchan, Shri Kr­ishen Mandir, and the B-Mo­bile Shiv Shak­ti Dance Group. On Fri­day, Oc­to­ber 9, there will be dances by the Shak­ti De­vi and In­di­ra Ma­ha­too Dance Groups, and as well, Sav­it­ri Toolan of Ja­maica.

Or­ches­tra­tion will be per­formed by Shiv Sangeet School of Mu­sic, Shiv­anand Ma­haraj, Naren­dra Ma­haraj, Di­vya Deep­ak Ma­haraj, In­dra Roop­nar­ine, Dr Win­ston Tolan (Ja­maica), and Tara­dath Har­ri­lal. Spe­cial fea­ture will be the Ap­sara Dance Acad­e­my of Guyana. On Sat­ur­day, Oc­to­ber 10, pa­trons will be en­ter­tained by Roopa School of Dance (Flori­da), and guest per­for­mances by Dr Beni Balka­ran, Suren­dra Solomon, Sub­ash Bhi­ka and Am­i­na Ram­saran. Un­til the clos­ing night, Fri­day, Oc­to­ber 16, sev­er­al lo­cal In­di­an artistes will oc­cu­py the spot­light on the re­fur­bished stage.

They in­clude: D Ram­per­sad In­di Art, Courts Nir­vana Dance Group, Vee­jai Ramkissoon-Sookraj, Anil Bheem and Pre­ma­tee Bhim, De­vi­ka Ram­nath-Seemu­n­gal, Ea­gle Boys Tas­sa Group, Su­san Mo­hip, Bala Ram­roop, Petrotrin Rangeela Or­cher­stra, San­dra Sookdeo Dance Group, Baal and Lily John, T&TEC Gay­a­tones and the Big Band (Ravi, Nisha and Anil Bis­samb­har). Fa­mous co­me­di­ans, Ken­neth Su­per­sad and Gary Ja­grup, will al­so fea­ture promi­nent­ly.