This term I got a chance to celebrate ‘Navratri’ a highly celebrated festival in India covered in Gujarati culture. Navratri is known to bring people together and dance in a circle which is exactly what happened in this event. The dance helped us all connect with culture, community, work on teamwork and reflect on our skills. In this sentence, skills define the physical exertion to perform the dance style to improve endurance and strength.
LO 1: Identify own strengths and develop areas for growth
LO1 : To perform the style, I needed to ensure that I learned the style to its full extent, I was very well aware of the style and its detailed techniques with thorough practices throughout the years but there were still styles I was unknown to. As I gathered people and learned new methods of garba such as Dhakla and 32 steps with a progressive learning approach. It was difficult at first but with constant practice on upbeat music I gradually learned to perform. The long-time performance contributed to build up my endurance to perform an activity for a longer period of time, three hours. I even taught the beginners who were new to garba hence introducing complex choreography and dance routines which also contributed to endurance and strength.
LO 2 : Demonstrate that challenges have been undertaken, developing new skills in the process
LO2 : There were multiple challenges that I faced while performing and practicing this dance style. During the event I ran out of breath a couple of times, so it was difficult for me to practice but with a strong will I kept participating developing my new skill, endurance. Another challenge was teamwork, the garba fest was crowded so it was difficult to enter the circle but through time I developed the coordination between team members in the process. It was due to constant perseverance that got me ready to perform the activity after a long time which made the CAS experience effective.
LO 3:Demonstrate how to initiate and plan a CAS experience
LO3 : The initiative to plan a garba fest was required to help coordinate the people and make sure that all participants got the chance to participate. There were multiple people who were new to the dance style so it was important to teach them and hold dance practice sessions between the events to teach them simple and complex styles. To make perfect circles to continue garba we had to ensure that everyone stayed in a circle and danced according to the beat only. We even divided groups for the ones who want to practice a different type of garba, so this initiative really helped to make this CAS experience a success.
LO6: Engagement with Issues of Global Significance
By participating in Garba Fest, I engaged with the global issue of cultural loss, as many traditions risk fading in today’s globalized world. The event celebrated Gujarat’s traditional dance, Garba, by uniting people to practice and appreciate it. This not only preserved heritage but also promoted cultural pride, awareness, and continuity across generations and communities worldwide.
