School troupe: Students present folk dances

RAWALPINDI: The Rawalpindi Arts Council on Thursday organised a dance competition for schoolchildren to highlight and promote the rich folk culture of the country.

The Anglo Arab School Rawalpindi secured first position in the group dance competition in which students danced to the folk music of all four provinces.

The schoolchildren wore colourful dresses that depicted various cultures of the country. Ayesha,11, of the winning team, said she had been taking music classes and rehearsing to prepare for the competition.

Member National Assembly Tahira Aurangzeb was the chief guest on the occasion.

Spangle School clinched second position while the Divisional Public School came third in the event. Leading Public School bagged fourth place. Spangle School children represented Sindhi culture with a blend of Sufism, the Divisional Public School represented Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa’s folk dances and clad in black dresses and traditional Peshawari chappal, they performed the “Attan”.

Students also represented the culture of Punjab, Balochistan, Kashmir and Gilgit-Baltistan.

The wining team will participate in an All Punjab Folk Dance competition in Lahore next month.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 3^rd, 2014.