Bhopal (Madhya Pradesh): The clubs and residential societies will not admit unvaccinated people into Garba dance during Navratri.
They say all the participants as well as members of the audience will have to show their complete vaccination certificates. They have also curtailed the number of dancers and increased the dancing areas for performing Garba to ensure social distancing.
Notably, the state government in its order issued on Tuesday, allowed Garba dance events in only residential societies and clubs.
Some groups of residential societies have even decided to slow the pace of the dance to ensure that the participants will not have to breathe hard.
Secretary of the Riviera Towne Ladies Club Nidhi Parmar, says that they have been practicing for the past few weeks. “We were waiting for the guidelines. We are allowing only fully vaccinated people to join the Garba,” she says. “Safety is paramount. The government has allowed us to organise the dance. But this does not mean we should not observe necessary precautions,” she adds
Sneha Upadhaya who has been practicing at the Gemini Club in Riviera Towne for almost one month says that the organisers have decided to divide the dancers into batches of 20-25 each to maintain social distancing. Earlier, all the dancers used to perform together on the final day but this time they will be dancing in batches. Only two members each from the families of the participants will be allowed to watch the performance. And even they will need to be vaccinated. Those suffering from cold and cough will be required to wear masks.
Kahkasha Saxena of the Celebrations Group of Surbhi Lifespaces Society, Khajuri Kalan, says that 30-35 women and children of their colony would be performing garba. “We have decided to keep the involvement of the elderly to the minimum. They would only be invited to distribute prizes on the last day,” she says. They have also reduced the pace of the dance steps so that the dancers wearing masks don’t face any discomfort, she says.
Residents of Paras City Society have been practicing in the open space on their premises. “We will be dancing to the tune of folk songs,” Shalini Gupta of the Society says. They are maintaining a distance of 3-4 feet between the dancers, who are women and children in the 8-15 years age group. Vaccination certificate is a must for all the adult participants.
Rashmi Golya of the Ladies Club, E-1 Arera Colony said they have reduced the number of participants from 50-60 to 25-30. They are practicing at the Bhojpur Club. Only adults are allowed to join the event and there is no entry for audience and guests, she says.
