This is your chance to go beyond the west coast and get a glimpse of the traditional and cultural wealth of the north east… the first edition
of Octave@Goa. The festival offers a cultural spectrum of India’s northeastern states and goes beyond just stage performances. Octave@Goa has been organised by the Ministry of Culture, Government of India, West Zone Cultural Centre, Udaipur,
North East Zonal Cultural Centre, Dimapur and the Directorate of Art and Culture, Goa.
The five-day festival will go on till March 22, 2015 at the Kala Academy, Panjim and will feature different creative arts and crafts like handicrafts, painting, poetry, drama, literature, dance and music. The opening day of the festival commenced with its inauguration at the hands of Kalyan Singh, Governor of Rajasthan, followed by the dances of each of the northeastern states of India. Today,
March 20, will see a literary meet at Kala Academy at 11am and a folk performance including the Manipuri Raas at 7pm at Darya Sangam, Kala Academy. On March 21, there will be Choir Singing followed by a concert by a Rock band from 7pm onwards.
On the concluding day, March 22, 2015, there will be folk performances by the six participating states including the folk dances, Bihu Dance of Assam, Cheraw dance of Mizoram, Erap dance of Arunachal Pradesh, Ghantu dance of Sikkim, Hozagiri dance of Tripura, Manipuri Rass Lila, Pung Cholom Dance of Manipur, Singhi Chham of Sikkim, Thang-la dance of Manipur and Juju Jaga of Arunchal Pradesh. Besides the stage performances, stalls have been set up offering a taste of the cuisines as well an art exhibition showcasing the creative forms of art and crafts of the North East which will be open from 3pm to 9pm. With nearly 400 performing artists, Kala Academy is buzzing with activity as the artistes perfect their moves. A member of the Juju Jaja group from Arunachal Pradesh says, “We have been performing
across India for Octave but this is
the first time we have come to Goa.
We are a group of 18 members with
four singers.
The Juju Jaja dance is an
important dance of the Nyishi
Community of Arunachal Pradesh
which is performed during harvest
time, dancing with an ‘agea’ – a
basket to collect rice and an ‘oppu’
– a winnowing fan.”
