THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: “It’s an art form that innately resonates in our hearts, something that’s deeply engraved in our lives. We’ve been performing since childhood. It’s a pleasure to perform in front of such a large crowd!” exclaimed Akhina, Toly, Devika, Rakhitha, Bhavya, Manisha and Vaishnavika.
The girls from Team Wayanad had just finished their ‘Paniya nritham’ performance — one of the five tribal dance forms that marked their debut at the 63rd State School Arts Festival. Seven of the 12 team members of the Government Model Residential School, Kaniyambetta, hail from the very community that gave rise to the art form — the Paniya tribes of Wayanad.
“We are confident,” they chorused, their excitement at its peak, as they emerged after completing their performance in the HSS category. The group also had members from the Kattunaika and Adiyar communities. With their hair swept high, the girls dolled up in black blouses, white dhothis, traditional rosaries, and large earrings bagged an ‘A’ grade.
The final performance in the Paniya dance competition (HSS category) sprang a surprise, as an all-boys team from Pathanamthitta took the stage in an event dominated by girls. The team from Vadasserikkara Model Residential School featured four participants who grew up learning the dance form at home.
Anand Gopal, Sharath Ramesh, Jishnu K and Hareesh Babu, from the Paniya community in Wayanad, put on a power-packed performance, lifting the mood at the Nishagandhi auditorium.
A Punjabi hue to ‘Paniya nritham’
The team from Kozhikode included a Punjabi, Sanjana Dabby of Ludhiana, a 11th grade student of BEM GHSS Kozhikode, who danced to the Paniya rhythm, alongside Devanandha from the Paniya community and 10 others. Sanjana is the daughter of Sonu, a shoemaker from Punjab, and Rekha, who are now settled in Kozhikode.
“I learnt the dance in just two weeks, along with my friends. I really enjoyed performing,” said Sanjana, a debutante at the state school fest.
The team from SNHSS North Paravur was trained by a familiar face. Prakrithi N V, one of the first transwomen from the tribal community in Kerala, went all the way to North Paravur to teach the children of the sea the rhythms of the hills. Prakrithi, who is also a poet, is widely known for voicing tribal rights.
“There were many discrepancies in district-level competitions, as judges with no association to the art form whatsoever, came in to assess our culture. We hope the state competitions will be free from such stupidity and fair judgements are made,” she said.
Paniya nritham is performed by the Paniya community during the planting and harvesting seasons. The performances use traditional instruments of ‘thudi’ and ‘cheeni’ for rhythm and music. The performances in state-level competitions were a blend of ‘vattamkali’ and ‘kambalamnattal’, two similar forms of tribal performance from the community. A total of 16 teams competed at the festival — all of them trained by dancers from the Paniya community in Wayanad.
Meanwhile, experts from the community termed some of the decisions unfair. “The students have to perform a mix of both ‘vattamkkali’ and ‘kambalam nattal’ in the competition. But both are different. Paniya dance as we assume is authentically ‘vattamkali’. We hope things would be more authentic in the competitions in the coming years,” a trainer said.
Most of the contestants were from state government model residential schools across the state.