Nighat Chaudhry, Faheem Mazhar swayed audiences with their performances. PHOTOS: HUMA CHOUDHARY/EXPRESS
ISLAMABAD:
A fusion of contemporary and traditional Pakistani musical performances organised here at the Pakistan National Council of the Arts (PNCA) on Saturday night, highlighted how unity and harmony can arise out of chaos and conflict.
The night was organised by the US embassy and Kuch Khaas to celebrate Daniel Pearl World Music Day.
The event, Harmony for Humanity, aimed at stressing on the importance of promoting peace, tolerance and mutual understanding.
It included performances by Lahore-based choreographer Nighat Chaudhry and composer Faheem Mazhar, who fused contemporary and traditional Pakistani music to show how unity and harmony can arise out of chaos and conflict.
US Ambassador Richard Olson welcomed all students, educators, performance enthusiasts at the Saturday night event, and said music could be used to spread peace and tolerance, something that he considers a shared tradition of Pakistanis and Americans.
The night started with Indian classical genre musician Mazhar singing ghazals with a band of instrumentalists. He started with the ghazal “Khayaal” which had a mellow beat and ended with the fast tempo “Teray ishq nachaiya kar ke thaiya thaiya” invigorating cheers and claps from audiences.
After Mazhar’s performance, a group of men wearing clothes in earthy tones of brown and orange began their performance. One of the performers held a large cloth with trailing tentacles that entangled other performers, gripping and suffocating them. The performers then let go of the cloth and danced in couples, first in harmony and then in chaos, they fought until they collapsed on the floor.
Then, out of the darkness and doom, emerged Chaudhry, dancing gracefully amid the fallen dancers. She tapped her feet and clapped her hands to lend strength to the people to awaken them once again but it was of no use.
In the background, a voice said “Wake up you’re free, speak up, your tongue is still your own” as Chaudhry lent the fallen people her hand and lifted them up. The band of musicians also performed Faiz Ahmed Faiz’s poem, “Bol ke lub azaad hain teray” after which Chaudhry and her dance troupe performed classical dance moves as the music tempo increased and decreased.
“The concerts are a silver lining outcome to the Daniel Pearl tragedy. This performance by madam Nighat showed how often our society suppresses freedom of expression in individuals. It tells how through music and dance one can learn to express themselves freely,” said Mehreen Ali, an audience member.
Daniel Pearl World Music Days is an international network of concerts which takes place in the month of October which aims at uniting people through the power of music.
Published in The Express Tribune, October 5th, 2015.
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