Common Wealth Games: Precursor to Opening & Closing Ceremony

The Opening and Closing ceremonies of 19th Commonwealth Games 2010 at J N Stadium Complex in Delhi will be a truly Indian affair. Both the ceremonies will have no foreign influence other than the fireworks at the end of the ceremonies. 

The first eight minutes of the opening ceremony will feature ace percussionist Taufiq Qureshi and his group on the theme ‘The Great Indian Bazzar’. It will give the feeling of ‘how Indian streets sound like’. Taufiq will be using different rhythm structures to attract the audience, which has every little detail of bazaar and been mish-mashed with sounds like an iron-smith using his hammer etc.

This will be followed by voices of Naga and Baul singers and sounds of Bamboo dancers by Bansi Kaul, a Delhi based theatre director. Bansi has extensive knowledge on folk idioms of India. 

Birju Maharaj and Shovana Narayan’s students will then take the stage for next 15 minutes of the opening ceremony with theme ‘Indian seasons’ which will have 480 artistes divided into six groups of 80 dancers each performing six Indian classical dance forms: Kathak, Bharatanatyam, Kuchipudi, Odissi, Mohiniattam and Manipuri. 

Oscar winner AR Rahman, who is composing the anthem for Commonwealth Games, will also perform in both opening and closing ceremonies. The one-hour opening ceremony will have 9000 artists, dancers and musicians from all walks of life and each corner of India. The closing ceremony will be more about India’s martial art forms. This will include Kerala’s Kalaripayattu, Punjab’s Gatka, Manipuri Thang-ta and Tamil Nadu’s Silambattam. Both ceremonies will be mixed with rural and urban sports and culture of India. 

In total Rs 300 crore will be spent in both the ceremonies. Event will be managed by Wizcraft International Entertainment Private Limited. At the end, fireworks will be performed by Howard and Sons, an Australian firm who were behind the pyrotechnics of Melbourne Games. 

Incidentally, the centerpiece of the 2006 Melbourne Games was 11 minutes allotted to India. The Scots, who will host the next edition in Glasgow, would not get a similar time slot this time.

Looking forward to success of CWG 2010 - Delhi !