The first edition of Majuli Theatre Festival titled Do:Nyi – Po:Lo (Mising words denoting the significance of sun and moon) completed successfully at Sitadhar Gaon, Garmur on 19th & 20th November. While the main performances and masterclasses happened on these two dates, the artists and the teams had arrived in Majuli on 15th November itself and started offering pre-workshops to each other as well as to local youth as a way of initiating the process of learning and cultural exchange, which was also one of the major objectives behind organizing this festival.
The vision of the festival was to bring back to life the traditions of the land especially the performing arts and offer the local community members an opportunity to be exposed to and engage with the larger outside world of Performing Arts, sense the significance of traditions, arts and culture and for the local youth and artists to gain a livelihood perspective, thus broadening their horizons and worldviews.
The theme of the festival was Body Wisdom. Body Wisdom as a way of recognizing and nurturing and that theatre and dance can be the perfect medium to accomplish this goal. It was hoped that through all the performances and workshops, the artists would learn to tap into the wisdom of their bodies more and pay more attention to the cues, responses, sensations and movements of the body under different circumstances. Also the objective hence in our curation was to choose a variety of shows or performances within this broad umbrella of expressions of Body Wisdom.
The festival was successful in achieving all of the above to a great extent, and was completely rooted in nature, thus respecting and co-creating with the ecology of the river island. All the performances took place under the open skies, inside a bamboo grove and the riverfront of river Luit.
The main highlights of the festival making it vibrant, alive and an ecological experience were –
The venues (two different stages for performances) were open spaces in nature and that created a great symbiotic energy for the festival. The decoration was completely done as per local traditions and using natural items, such as leaves, bamboo, local textile – which rooted the festival completely in the culture of Majuli and gave all the attendees from outside Majuli a peek into the local art and culture.
The inaugural ceremony of the festival included a Mising prayer and lighting of the lamp by the dignitaries as well as the local Mising priests, honouring the values of the land and taking the blessings of all elders and ancestors. In the closing ceremony also, the ritual of tying the Mising threads (Riddin) was included to give wishes and blessings to each other and to pray for the festival to grow in its vision of promoting the local traditions.
The participation of local youth in all the pre-festival workshops, masterclasses during the festival, as volunteers taking care of the registration desk, ushering etc. and as audience members – boosting their confidence and level of exposure.
The participation of local men, women and children from the nearby villages throughout the festival, giving them the taste of worldwide culture in the space of performing arts, and also helping them realize the value of their own traditions. They were seen smiling, laughing, crying and appreciating each of the plays/performances they attended.
The learning exchange was a constant process throughout the festival, all the artist groups found the masterclasses to be highly beneficial in understanding each other’s style, craft and the process of preparing for a performance. At the end of each day, there were reflection and discussion sessions, dedicated to sharing our key learnings from the day, new insights, techniques that everyone picked up and how their experience would add to their growth as an artist. The masterclasses were attended by local youth and artists too, thus helping them learn new artistic skills while participating in the festival.
Here’s the details on the activities conducted during the festival and the pre-festival residency and workshops:
16th November – Artist teams started arriving in Majuli. The Amares Teatro team from Uruguay and Surjit Singh from Manipur arrived on this day
Welcome Ritual
17 November – The pre-festival workshops started with great participation from local community members, artists and youth.
Visuals of the Clowning Workshop by The Amares Teatro Team (Andres & Betina) from Uruguay below.
Movement Workshop by Surjit Singh Nongmeikapam from Manipur
The rest of the day was devoted to rehearsals by the artist teams and preparations by the BCF team in getting the two stages ready, sound and light arrangements, receiving guests etc.
A specific mention here would be the involvement of local folk artist/musicians in Surjit Singh Nongmeikapam’s performence and they started their reharsals with him too.
18th November – The pre-festival workshop continued by the Uruguay team (Andres & Betina) and more artists and guests arrived throughout the day.
Clowning Workshop by The Amares Teatro Team from Uruguay
6.30 p.m. – Welcome rituals and sharing circle with all the artist groups, guests and the team
In the welcome circle, all the artists from different teams got the opportunity to introduce themselves and share their expectations from the festival. The BCF team explained the overall vision of the festival and brought everyone in sync with the schedule and arrangements for better alignment.
It was an honour for us to have our guests join us from this day itself. Notably, Mr. Sanjeev Hazarika, noted filmmaker and his wife from Guwahati and Ms. Tapati Choudharie, senior journalist from Kolkata, Mr. Ravishankar, Director of NID Jorhat, Ms Ruma Bezbaruah from FM and other valuable audience from all over India who joined us and supported the festival in different yet very valuable capacities
The first day of the festival was full of excitement and elation as a lot of hard work had gone into the preparations. As the day rolled, everyone was left bewildered on seeing the amount of participation and the love and appreciation showered on each performance.
8.30 – 10.00 am: Masterclass on Clowning by
Amares Teatro from Uruguay
The day started with the Masterclass by the Uruguay team, Andres & Betina, which was attended by new participants and artist teams that arrived the day before. The workshop was a perfect start to the festival, as it energized everyone and was completely in sync with the overall theme of recognizing and nurturing our Body Wisdom.
11.00 am – 12.00 pm: Inaugural Ceremony
Formal Inauguration of the Festival by dignitaries with local performances including Gumrag Dance by the Mising artists and the musical symphony by NOI Band of boys
It was such a beautiful beginning to the festival, under the bamboo grove, which started with lighting of a lamp by the dignitaries and special guests, a Mising prayer led by Shri Kamala Kanta Koman (a Mising priest and celebrated organic farmer), introduction to all the artist teams, and beautiful performances by the local artists – A Gumrag dance, a traditional dance of the Mising community, choreographed by Rakesh Pegu and a musical symphony by the band of boys NOI Lohor, a group of 8 boys who play 30 different music instruments from NOI centre of BCF.
We were graced by the presence of academics, cultural practitioners of various mediums from across India, Satradhikar of Notun Kamalabari Satra of Majuli and it was an honour for the festival to be inaugurated by senior theatre practitioner Hemanta Borpatra Gohain from Dhemaji, Assam.
12.15 – 1.00 pm: Theatre Performance 1 – “U Define” by Surjit Singh Nongmeikapam from Manipur
The first theatre performance of the festival by Surjit Singh left everyone mesmerized and there was pin drop silence during the act, it had captured everyone fully – whether it was women and children from the villages or all the guests and participating teams. This performance had definitely set the bar very high for the rest of the festival and Surjit Singh’s hard work completely won the hearts of the audience.
2.00 – 2.45 pm: Masterclass 2 by BA Theatre Group from Assam
The learning process continued with the second wonderful masterclass by the renowned BA Theatre group from Guwahati, led by Pakeezah Begum. Stage presence, working with the body, emotional expressions and fluidity were some of the key aspects touched upon this workshop.
3.00 – 4.00 pm: Theatre Performance 2 – “Elephant in the Room” by Yuki Ellias from Mumbai
The second theatre performance of the day by Yuki Ellias and Priyanka Babbar from Mumbai left everyone in both tears and laughter, as the story of the little Ganesha touched each heart in the audience deeply. The performance was indeed very heartwarming for everyone, especially enjoyed by kids in the audience to the fullest.
5.00 – 5.30 pm: Theatre Performance 3 – “Mukha Abhinaya” by Dr. Hemchandra Goswami, Samoguri Satra, Majuli, Assam
This was the most awaited performance of the festival, especially for everyone who were in Majuli for the first time. The audience were in awe of the talent and craft of the local artists from Samoguri Satra and could not get over the charisma of this local piece of art from Assamese culture.
5.30 – 6.30 pm: Theatre Performance 4 – “A Human Endeavour” by Shilpika Bordoloi, Brahmaputra Cultural Foundation, Assam
The final theatre performance of the day was by the BCF team and it left everyone spell-bound. The performance was moving, engaging and thought-provoking at the same time. Depicting the travesty of the human situation, it was indeed an emotionally haunting piece, much appreciated by the audience. The best part was that a lot of local community members attended the evening performance and enjoyed it thoroughly.
8.30 pm: Reflections and Discussion
Post dinner, there was a reflections and discussion session over the bonfire, moderated by a guest, highlighting the main performances that took place during the day and the experiences of people watching those performances. The format was crisp, inclusive and focused on key learnings to be most useful to everyone.
The second and final day was full of even more excitement as the first day had thoroughly warmed up everyone’s hearts.
8.30 – 9.30 am: Masterclass 1 – Masterclass by Surjit Singh Nongmeikapam from Manipur
The second day started with the Masterclass by Surjit Singh, which was focused on body movements and how to prepare and listen to our body for greater flexibility, tuning and achieving a flow state. It was best described as a ‘soul cleansing’ experience by one of the participants from BA theatre group.
11.00 – 12.00 pm: Theatre Performance 1 – Performance Art by Anupam Saikia from Assam
Just like the previous day, Anupam’s performance also touched a very different space and gave everyone an opportunity to experience a Performance Arts piece, which is intuitive, interactive and touches the depths of the human soul through various movements and explorations of the body.
12.00 – 1.00 pm: Masterclass 2 by Yuki Ellias from Mumbai
The second Masterclass of the day was conducted by Yuki Ellias and her partner, Priyanka Babbar. This workshop was highly engaging as it was based on warm-up and impromptu exercises, that led to the participants coming up with short 2-5 mins plays spontaneously. There was a lot of fun, laughter and connection that got created during this short but wonderfully held workshop.
2.00 – 3.00 pm: Discussion: Body Wisdom
Post lunch, a space was offered to delve deeper into the theme of the festival i.e. Body Wisdom. Very unique yet significant aspects came up during this discussion related to the human body, expression of sexuality, freedom of male versus female bodies and it was quite thought-provoking to deliberate on all these aspects.
3.00 – 4.00 pm: Theatre Performance 2 – “RIO” by Amares Teatro (Andres & Betina) from Uruguay
This performance was loved deeply by kids and adults alike, as it was highly comical yet serious and beautifully presented by Andres & Betina from Amares Teatro group. There were several jaw-dropping moments during this performance, especially those involving completely synchronized yet difficult body movements by the artists.
5.00 – 7.00 pm: Theatre Performance 3 –“Charandas Chor” by BA Theatre from Guwahati, Assam
The final theatre performance of the festival by BA Theatre group was indeed a power packed one, that held everyone’s attention throughout. Each artist of this team gave a brilliant performance and left the audience in awe of their talent and craft. Again, the participation of local villagers was the highlight of this evening.
7.30 – 9.00 pm: Reflections & Closing Ceremony
The final Reflections and Closing Ceremony of the festival was such a heart-warming experience where everyone shared how the festival has turned out to be one of their most significant experiences in the performing arts space and the ritual. The Mising thread was like a perfect closing with a lot of prayers and good wishes being exchanged between everyone..
Way Forward for the Festival – Our Hopes
The festival was a first step in the direction of festivals by BCF team and it was a huge encouragement to receive all the support and appreciation by everyone who got involved. The BCF team, as originally envisaged, hopes to continue working towards this vision by organizing more learning exchanges for the local community and artists, residencies and workshops, exposure trips etc. throughout the year and truly give back to the magical island of Majuli and its communities and beings.
Some stories from the media
The Assam Tribune
Asomiya Pratidin অসমীয়া প্ৰতিদিন
Dainik Janambhumi দৈনিক জনমভূমি