9th edition of Bal Sangam to highlight folk theatre

: As the much-awaited Children's Theatre Festival by the National School of Drama is scheduled to run November 21-25, children in the capital have a lot to look forward to.

The ninth edition of the festival will showcase performances from 13 Indian states focusing on folk theatre like Chhou from West Bengal, Yakshagana from Karanataka, Bhand Pather from Jammu and Kashmir and Rass Leela from Manipur. There will be workshops on paper puppet making, origami, madhubani paintings, mask making, potter craft to educate and enrich experience for the young children.

"This is a unique effort to expose the children and young citizens to real strength of Indian folk and traditional performing arts. It is also an effort to understand the roots of our heritage and cultural treasure. Bal Sangam is about sharing, learning, teaching, enriching and gaining confidence for showing our indigenous cultural identity," said NSF director Waman Kendre.

Elaborating on this year's edition of Bal Sangam, Abdul Latif Khatana, chief of Theatre in Education, said: "Bal Sangam is an effort to bring folk and urban face to face. Where there are children today lost in the internet and technology, TIE festival brings the open and varied folk to the kids of today, amalgamating the past and the future in the present."

To add to the festivities, longmans, clowns, dhol drummers, tightrope walkers, jugaad band performers, acrobats, jugglers, behrupiyas, magicians, kacchi-ghodi performers, kathputli exponents, and many more will converge on the campus of NSD to present to the young minds the cultural heritage of the country.

Many students from Delhi schools, including those from Mayoor Public School, Jamia Middle School, Red Rosses Public School, Bengali Boys Sr. Secondary, Hingli Foundation, Andhra Society, will be bringing different components of folk culture to the festival.

NSD will be making special arrangements through various NGO to reach out and invite children from the less privileged class to be a part of the festival.

Yhr festival will be held at the National School of Drama campus at Mandi House, from 4p.m. to 8 p.m.