more-in The crowd swarmed into the Police Maidan, the inaugural venue of the Kerala State School Arts Festival, in thousands, long before the ceremony began on Monday. The people probably came prepared to sit through the routine fare at the inauguration and wait for hours before the most prestigious event at the festival, Mohiniyattam, started. But they were in for a surprise. The choreography for the welcome song proved rather well conceived and enjoyable. It presented a glimpse of not just Kerala’s cultural history but some glimpses of what art lovers could expect over the next one week at the festival. The festival fare is quite varied with plenty to look forward to this year too. Classical dances such as Bharathanatyam, Mohiniyattam and Kuchipudi, have been big crowd-pullers for decades. When it comes to popular items at the festival, group dance is what strikes. The main venue, Police Maidan, will host the competitions on January 20 and 21. There is option to watch it online (see box) from anywhere in the world. Among other popular items is the recently introduced folk song competitions, which has attained instant popularity. Then, of course, there are events like mimicry, mono-acting and drama which have always drawn huge crowds. You could also expect quality fare in light and classical music competitions. If you look at the history of the festival, it is in music that the festival has produced future stars. The inaugural day saw competition only in a few events like Mohiniyattam, Kuchipudi, Kathakali, Bharatanatyam, Thiruvathirakali, Pachavadyam and Chavittu Natakam. It is from Day Two, on Tuesday, that the festival would gather momentum, when talents would appear on some 19 stages.

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