100 drums beat for Rahman - Musician’s team captures Wangala for C’wealth Games OUR CORRESPONDENT A member of A.R. Rahman’s team records the Wangala dance in Tura on Friday. A Telegraph picture
Shillong, Nov. 13: Cameras whizzed and spools of tape recorded the sights and sounds of Wangala music in the Garo hills today, setting the stage for Garo music’s debut on the international stage. Wangala, the traditional music and dance form of the Garos, will find a place in the opening ceremony of next year’s Commonwealth Games to be held in Delhi, thanks to music director and Oscar winner A.R. Rahman. Though the famed musician could not visit Tura to record the music and dance himself because of his busy schedule, he sent his team of filmmakers and recordists to capture the dance and the rhythm associated with it. Rahman’s team, led by directors Bharat Bala and Kanika Myer, along with assistant director Kavita Carmeiro and photographer Akshay Uchil, recorded the dance moves and drumbeats associated with Wangala at Asanangre today, the venue of the annual 100 drums festival, around 25km from Tura in West Garo Hills. After visiting Asananggre, the film producers took many shots of the arrival of the Wangala troupes. While the men wearing *dhotis*, half-jackets and turbans with feathers beat the drums and other musical instruments, the women, wearing colourful silk blouses and head-wraps, danced to the rhythm. The Wangala dance is performed every year in November as part of the post-harvest festival of the Garos, marking the end of the agricultural year. Through this dance, people express their gratitude to the god of fertility, Misi-a-Gilpa-Saljong-Galapa. A *nagara *(special drum used for calling the people on solemn occasions) is beaten on the occasion. “We will hand over whatever we have recorded — both sound and dance — to Rahman so that he is able to incorporate it when we plan the live performance of a Garo dance troupe during the opening ceremony of the Commonwealth Games,” Bala was quoted as saying by a government official over phone from Tura. The official added that a Wangala troupe from Garo hills would be taken to Delhi so that the dancers can perform live during the inaugural ceremony of the Games. Bala and Myer were earlier associated with Rahman in the production of the very successful *Vande Mataram *and other music albums. http://www.telegraphindia.com/1091114/jsp/northeast/story_11740099.jsp -- regards, Vithur
