Inter-House Dance Competition at Tsirangtoe
Lower Secondary School
As the signs and
signals of onset of autumn blaze from hills and vales, Tsirangtoe Lower Secondary
School took an autumn interlude with songs and Dances. The School Cultural Club
organized Inter-house Dance Competition on September 20, 2017, thus welcoming
the pleasant autumn.
The four houses jostled
for the ‘title’ neck-to-neck on three major dance categories –Zhungdra, Boedra and Rigsar.
As Zhungdra is sung with extended vocal
tones in complex patterns, students sweat blood prior to coming on the stage. Yet,
each participant gave it a whirl, practiced until they drop, and were able to perform
a decent traditional way in front of hundreds of spectators. Unlike in the past,
the students this time integrated a dramatization with their songs to make it
easy to comprehend its serpentine lyrics. Zhungdra
is the oldest styles of traditional folk music of Bhutan and known for its
great significance.
Learning the lyrics, tune
and dance movements of Boedra was
simply a plain sailing for the participants. They simply practiced and learned.
Their performance was really a praiseworthy one. Everyone jumped with joy
following each song. Many conclude that the Boedra is a traditional genre of Bhutanese music, which is
influenced by Tibetan folk music.
Rigsar or the Lusar is the staple of Bhutanese repertoire these
days. Thus, learning and dancing Lusar is
something that even distant Tsirangtoe students can do it simply at the stroke
of a pen. It is the most enjoyed genre of music, both for the participants and
the spectators. Indeed, the fast-paced Lusar
was the core of the show, adding much weight and colour to the audio-visual
feast.
The dance competition
was organized to instill and inspire the timeless values of Zhungdra and Boedra, as
these genres often tell Buddhist allegories. It was also to foster students in
learning pop Bhutanese music style or the Lusar.
