Raipur: Dressed in festive finery and with excitement on their faces, hundreds of people from tribal communities from across the world witnessed exuberant performances on the opening day of the National Tribal Dance Festival here on Thursday. From Nigeria’s Efik people’s “Ekombi” dance to Palestinian girls’ “Dabke” performance and tribals of Chhattisgarh’s Durg and Surguja districts matching steps in “Saila” and “Karma” dances. The festival, which is being held at the Science College Ground Raipur, was inaugurated by Jharkhand CM Hemant Soren and Chhattisgarh CM Bhupesh Baghel.
“Despite being from different parts of the world, we can see there is unity in diversity. This festival is our effort to bring together tribal people from different parts of the world on one stage,” Baghel said. Jharkhand CM Hemant Soren said that the National Tribal Dance Festival is a way to pay respect to the section of society that has always been “left out and exploited”. “With this event, we have a message for the whole country that if we want, this section of society can walk with us,” Soren added.
In a statement, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi congratulated the Chhattisgarh government for “providing a platform to ‘Adivasi’ artists from across India to showcase their unique cultural traditions”. A total of 58 dance groups will perform at the dance festival over five days. On day one, discussions were held on tribal tourism, cuisine and different art forms of Chhattisgarh.