ওয়াশিংটন বাংলা রেডিও Washington Bangla Radio USA

Germantown, Maryland, June 26, 2012 (Washington Bangla Radio) On Sunday June 24, 2012, The Tagore Music Group of Greater Washington DC, lead by Bharati Mitra (interview) of Gaithersburg presented CHHOBI - A Musical to a mesmerized capacity audience at the BlackRock Center for the Arts in Germantown. The performance showcased an innovative collaboration between the Tagore Music Group and students of the Natyabhoomi School of Dance of Bethesda which is lead by Deepti Naville. Deepti teaches the Indian classical Bharatnatyam dance form while her sister Shruthi Mukund teaches fusion dance at Natyabhoomi.

Chhobi is adapted from a short story by iconic Bengali writer Sarat Chandra Chattopadhyay set in Burma (Myanmar). The musical production stands out for successfully and seamlessly blending in songs by another Bengali icon - Rabindranath Tagore, and Burmese folk dances to the script as well as the general air of authenticity by using Burmese dresses and music. Shruthi Mukund of Natyabhoomi deserves kudos for successfully studying and learning Burmese folk dance from videos on the internet, choreographing and teaching her students all in a short time with impressive results on stage.

Washington, DC, May 6, 2012 (Washington Bangla Radio) Informally put together in 2008 by like-minded folks in the Greater Washington Metro area, the Tagore Music Group of Greater Washington DC is a cultural organization which strives to promote the music, drama, writings and philosophy of Nobel-laureate poet Rabindranath Tagore.

It consists of approximately twenty families with Bharati Mitra as the team lead. Each year the group stages at least one drama, dance drama or musical making sure the presentation is “live”…reminiscent of Santiniketan.

Read all about the troupe and their latest production Chhobi - A Musical along with date, time, venue and ticket details of the performance.

Kolkata April 11, 2012 (Washington Bangla Radio / Penning Creations) Tapan Theater at south Kolkata has a long standing tradition of hosting popular plays. Despite the burgeoning impact of TV shows and multiplexes, the theater lovers of Kolkata have not lost their passion for watching stage performances.

On 16th of March, 2012, the troupe Maru Behag performed a drama based on Rabindranath Tagore’s seminal novel ‘Ghare Baire’. The play, directed by Jolly Guharoy was performed by the inmates of the Alipore Correctional Home in Kolkata. It was once again heart-warming to see the prison inmates perform passionately on stage after their earlier performance at Tapan Theater, based on a dramatic rendition of Rabindranath Tagore’s ‘Chokher Bali’. While a large number of police personnel kept close vigil in and around the theater premises, the performers were oblivious of their presence and were completely absorbed into their acts. And much like the earlier occasion, we amused ourselves, pondering about the rareness of the event.

When Cirque du Soliel’s Iris team performed a show during the 84th Annual Academy Awards function at the Kodak Theatre, Los Angeles on 26th February 2012, the anchor Billy Crystal commented that he had a hamstring injury just watching the show for 5 minutes. Wonder what thousands of people who have watched Cirque’s KA at MGM, Las Vegas for whole 90 minutes would have to say?

Ranjan Ghoshal as Rabindranath Tagore in Crisis of Civilization: A Journey with Tagore

February 25, 2012 (Washington Bangla Radio / Penning Creations) On the 24th of February, Kolkata witnessed the performance of Crisis of Civilization: A journey with Tagore by Jagriti theatre Bangalore.  Directed by Jagadish Raja, this was a tribute to Rabindranath Tagore on his 150th birth anniversary.

Instead of following the clichéd path of staging a play written by Tagore, the group made an effort to bring the ideology of the great personality in front of the audience. Normally people know Tagore for his literary contributions but the facets of this visionary as an educationist, statesman and philosopher have been thrown light upon through this event.

This was a theatrical representation of “Sobhyotar Sonkat”, a speech delivered by the stalwart on his 80th birthday. In this speech Tagore expressed his concerns on the several fallacies that come with the advancement of civilization.

WBRi attended the theater production and presents a report.