Cincinnati Cultural Initiative

Welcome

Dear Friends:
With summer finally drawing to an end and schools about to open, it's time to welcome our favorite Sharat-kaal---sadly without kaash and shiuli in our backyards. We are sure you know that our PaaRaar Pujo will be held on September 18, 19 and 20 , at our last year’s venue, the Freedom Elementary School.
Our website is constantly being updated with exciting details. We are offering low rates for pre-registration through August 29 - after which the rates must increase. We express our sincere thanks to those who have already registered for the event. We are as eager as you are to welcome Ma Durga once again this year. Here is a glimpse of what is awaiting you on the cultural front.
We are very fortunate to have an award winning artiste Trisha Chakraborty render Bangla/Hindi songs on Friday evening. Trisha has moved to Cincinnati with her family and all of us are looking forward to their participation in the pujo. On Saturday evening, we have the honor of presenting another award winning artiste Rajyashree Ghosh who really needs no introduction in the Tri-State area. We will also present our own Rossana Bandopadhyayperforming Indian Classical Dance in Kathak style.We are proud to report that Rossana’s performance is increasingly gathering a serious following in this country apart from that in India. Rossana will perform on Saturday evening -- maybe we will get a glimpse of her performances from Banga Sammelan.
Our little angels will be on stage as well presenting their dances to charm the audience. We have heard that children as young as two may be part of this item. We also have an item that will certainly be a first for Cincinnati. This item is being completely conceptualized, significantly choreographed (with dadas and didis training their bhais and bons) and arranged by our younger members, who are increasingly taking on various responsibilities for organizing the Pujo. The adults have provided form/structure and have guided them throughout the process and we are proud to produce this piece of cultural item.
Additionally, we are preparing for a superb musical performance with songs in Bengali and Hindi, through which we will pay tributes to popular Bengali music directors through the ages. In this program, some of our second generation members will accompany us on stage, some for the first time working with more experienced adult performers. This will be the largest contingent of vocal performers ever assembled in a Bengali cultural event at Cincinnati and you'll get to hear the melodious voices from some hidden talents in town. We will travel back in time – to reminisce the songs from yesteryears -- before we move to more modern times.
No Bengali cultural event will be complete without a natok; we will stage a natok on Saturday , where you will see many familiar faces and some memorable debut in great form. Another first will be an Indian Dance Festival on Sunday with about half a dozen local dance schools performing in a festive atmosphere on stage. This will be a collection of various classical and semi-classical dance forms to bring the curtains on our celebration this year. But not before we have had our dhunuchi naach, sindur khela and a promise to welcome back Ma Durga (with her children, of course) next year.
Those of you who have registered already, we can promise you that you are in for a treat. To those of you who are still thinking, we ask that you register by the 29th of August to avail of the lower pre-registration rates. We'd love to have you attend this event and help us recreate the paaRaar pujo atmosphere. We look forward to see you at the Cincinnati Durga Utsav.
Thank You!
Ruma Sikdar and Pradyot Sen
Co-Conveners
Cincinnati Durga Utsav, 2009
On behalf of Cincinnati Cultural Initiative