The first ever Ohio Utsab was organized this past weekend in Columbus by COBCA. Those of us who went to perform and participate had a wonderful time meeting with like-minded people from all across the state. The event started off with a short speech from the President of COBCA highlighting the objective behind organizing this event - that of getting all the Bengalis across the great state of Ohio together, on a common cultural platform. We could not have agreed more.
True to that spirit of collaboration, the event started off with a folk dance program, jointly presented by the Bengalis living in Cleveland, Columbus and Cincinnati ! This spirit of collaboration reverberated throughout the rest of the programs when emcees of one city were anchoring the programs of another. Indeed, it was such a joyful sight and we hope this continues in every form of performing arts and at every possible forum between all the different Bengali associations in our state. Apart from making new connections, we can only get enriched through such cultural exchanges and collaborative efforts.
There are a couple of workshops & events in the months of August & September that are being organized by a few theater groups in Columbus. These would provide us with not only an opportunity to participate but also an opportunity to perform, rehearse with other co-actors and learn from each other. We will share these details with the community as we get to know more.
The invited artists - Srikanto-Jayati-Abhijeet-Swagata-Sougoto - engaged the audience with their music and got everybody feet-tapping more than once. The local artists, including our CCI team did a wonderful job of entertaining the audience with their repertoire of songs.
The event successfully concluded on Sunday evening at 7:00 pm. Through all these multiple programs over two days, if there is one thing that we took away - it is the absolute professionalism of keeping time and stage management. The first program started off on-time, with an audience of 80 odd people in an auditorium of 800 - as did the last program with an audience of 150 odd people. In between, there were ebbs and flows, as giggling groups made their way to the different vendor stalls and food corners and adda sessions and tea breaks, while the programs continued in their planned pace in the regal Jeanne B McCoy auditorium.
True to that spirit of collaboration, the event started off with a folk dance program, jointly presented by the Bengalis living in Cleveland, Columbus and Cincinnati ! This spirit of collaboration reverberated throughout the rest of the programs when emcees of one city were anchoring the programs of another. Indeed, it was such a joyful sight and we hope this continues in every form of performing arts and at every possible forum between all the different Bengali associations in our state. Apart from making new connections, we can only get enriched through such cultural exchanges and collaborative efforts.
There are a couple of workshops & events in the months of August & September that are being organized by a few theater groups in Columbus. These would provide us with not only an opportunity to participate but also an opportunity to perform, rehearse with other co-actors and learn from each other. We will share these details with the community as we get to know more.
The invited artists - Srikanto-Jayati-Abhijeet-Swagata-Sougoto - engaged the audience with their music and got everybody feet-tapping more than once. The local artists, including our CCI team did a wonderful job of entertaining the audience with their repertoire of songs.
The event successfully concluded on Sunday evening at 7:00 pm. Through all these multiple programs over two days, if there is one thing that we took away - it is the absolute professionalism of keeping time and stage management. The first program started off on-time, with an audience of 80 odd people in an auditorium of 800 - as did the last program with an audience of 150 odd people. In between, there were ebbs and flows, as giggling groups made their way to the different vendor stalls and food corners and adda sessions and tea breaks, while the programs continued in their planned pace in the regal Jeanne B McCoy auditorium.
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