It
has been an eventful first quarter of the Sesquicentennial Anniversary year of
the foundation of St. Anthony’s High School. Ever since the inaugural Mass (19th
April) and the Opening Ceremony (20th April) earlier this year, the
school has been hosting programmes to celebrate this grand milestone of
completing 150 years of its existence.
The latest in the list of events for the year was “The Groove” the
Inter- School Dance competition held on Friday, 28th June in the
newly renovated School Hall. The Chief Guest on the occasion was Mrs. Amita
Dutt Mukherjee. One of the leading exponents of Kathak in India, Amita Dutt is
Professor of Dance in the Uday Shankar Chair at the Rabindra Bharati University
(from 2000) and has also been the Head of the Department of Dance (2001-2003)
and the Dean of the Faculty of Fine Arts (2006-2010) at Rabindra Bharati
University.
The Groove was the maiden programme to be held in the
revamped School Hall and it was only appropriate that with the current look,
that bore no semblance to what the hall looked earlier, it needed to be
inaugurated afresh. The honours were done by the Chief Guest and the
Headmaster, Fr. Devraj Fernandes, the man behind the renovation of the hall and
other portions of the school building. The school students and teachers, who
got their first look of the hall on the occasion, were visibly impressed with
the plush interiors and wore a look of pride to have such a wonderfully designed
and well equipped hall within the school premises. The hall was aptly
christened Fr.
Camille Limbourg Auditorium after one of the earliest founding fathers of the
school.
The program began with the welcome dance performed by the
students and choreographed by Mr. Pradyut Dutta, one of the judges for the
event. The Sequicentennial Anthem was also sung by students of the School
Choir. The MC on the occasion was Mrs. Manju Cecelia Gomes, one of the senior
teachers of the school. She introduced the Chief Guest, who was felicitated
with floral tributes and a special memento issued to commemorate the occasion.
The Co-sponsors of the event were Dr. Devedra Pandey and Mr. Noor Mohammed,
both parents of students from the senior school. Mrs. Dutt took the podium and
spoke eloquently on dance and its significance in people’s lives. Her speech
was followed by a guest performance by Ms. Priyanka Ghosh, who performed a
scintillating Bharatnatyam number.
Then began the main event, the contest. The participating
schools were Meghmala Roy Education centre, Loyola High School, St. Mary’s
School and the host school. The contest was divided into two categories- solo
and group. The theme for the solo contest was the music of maestro A.R. Rahman
and that for the group performance was Seasons. The students demonstrated their
dancing skills to pitch perfection on the stage keeping the audience enthralled
with one performance after another. Transcending styles, age and gender, the
young dancers performed with finesse and élan. The group performances were a
mixture of co-ordination, innovative choreography and sophisticated execution.
After the contest was over it became apparent that choosing a clear winner
would be a gargantuan task for the judges. The winners in the solo category
were Mazhar Mannan, who stood first and represented the host school, Ayushi
Chowdhury from Meghmala Roy Education center, who stood second and George
Vincent Samuel of Loyola High School who took third place. Meghmala Roy Education
center was adjudged best in the Group performance and they lifted the
Championship Trophy for an outstanding performance. St. Anthony’s High School
Placed second and Loyola High School came third. Vignesh Pillai of St. Mary’s
School earned special commendation for an excellent Kathak Performance. 
The Headmaster thanked all the participants and accompanying
teachers and gave out the certificates of participation and the winners’
trophies. The programme was concluded with the school anthem.
