Folk dance, puppetry used to promote Covid vaccine in Odisha

Folk dance and puppetry are being used to promote Covid-19 vaccine in the sprawling Ganjam district of Odisha.

An official said that folk dance groups stage their performances mainly in villages across the district also to make people aware of the need to follow the Covid-appropriate behaviour.

As many as 278 folk dance groups have staged their performances in different panchayats in the district with the direction of the block development officers. The awareness drive will continue for some more days, the official said.

Popular folk dances like 'Dasakathia', in which performers use sticks to create music, and 'Pala' that speaks tales from the mythology, 'Pasu Nurtya' (Animal Dance), 'Kandhei Nata' (puppetry) are being used to encourage the people for vaccination and educate them about its benefits.

Artistes also perform other dance forms such as 'Prahallad Natak'' (stories on Lord Vishnu's Nrusinha Avatar), Bharat Leela (dance based on mythology), Jodi Sankha (in which two connected conch shells are used) for the purpose.

"As folk dance is a vital medium to educate the people to change the mindset, as well as to entertain the rural people, we have roped in folk artists to create awareness on vaccination drive and Covid-appropriate behaviours," Ganjam Collector Vijay Amruta Kulange said.

The folk artists, who have lost their livelihood due to the pandemic, will get an opportunity to earn some money with this awareness drive, district culture officer Akshaya Kumar Sethi said.

He said that folk artists would get their remuneration on performance through the block development officers after submitting their bills.

''Due to the Covid lockdown, the livelihood of hundreds of folk artists was severely hit,'' said Prasant Kumar Padhy, the vice president of the Zilla Kala Sanskruti Sangh, an apex body of folk dance groups.

''We are happy as the district administration entrusted us with the job to create awareness,'' he said.

Through the dances, the artistes try to get rid of the hesitancy caused by fear of vaccines or misapprehensions regarding them.

They also stage their performance abiding by the guidelines, which restricted a maximum of five artists in a group, he added.

''On the eve of the vaccination of a village, we educate the people, through a dance performance of around an hour, of the benefits and encourage them to take their jabs,'' said Bala Krushna Mishra, a Dasakathi artist in Sheragad.

''Besides, people are told about the right way to wear masks, wash hands and the importance of maintaining social distance,'' said Alok Bisoi, a Ghuduki artist in Digapahandi.

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)