Jammu, June 11: A new world of innovation and creativity is being explored by children in Natrang’s Summer Theatre Camp-2025. With a team of over six to seven top professionals under the guidance of Padma Shri Balwant Thakur are working with this year’s team of young children where out-of-the-world work is being done using the latest approaches and techniques of personality transformation and human development.
Jammu children at Natrang’s Theatre Camp-2025 are setting new benchmarks by exploring endless possibilities of originality and inventiveness. The most noteworthy feature of this year’s camp is that it is being personally devised and monitored by Balwant Thakur himself. He has worked on children’s theatre in the best of institutions in England, Germany, South Africa, Mauritius, Italy, China, Singapore, UAE, and USA, and this year’s participants are extremely lucky to have got the opportunity to share and explore a new world of creativity through the new innovative methods which he acquired having worked globally. New horizons of creativity are being turned inside out by experimenting with alternative ways of self-exploration through the vibrant devices of theatre.
Natrang organises a children’s theatre camp every year for forty-five days since the year 1990. This is the only professional platform for children in Jammu where children get an out-of-the-world exposure of creativity, art, aesthetics, innovation and culture. They are provided with immense opportunities to explore their immense hidden abilities. While discussing details of this initiative of Natrang, its director Balwant Thakur informed that everywhere the work of creativity with children is being done as a fashion. Everywhere one can find some activity being organised in the name of art and theatre but in Natrang, highly experienced and professionally trained people work in a strategically devised manner in infusing creativity amongst participating children. While others after school hours remain attracted to the idiot box (television)/smart phones or may be sleeping at home, the Natrang Theatre Camp for children have found an amazing space where they are equipping themselves with multiple abilities and qualities. Theatre is not only making them confident but is also enriching them with intellect and infusing in them the art of self-expression filled with immense social skills.
In the past, the experts to work with children have been coming from national and international institutions like the National School of Drama New Delhi and London International School of Performing Arts. The regular faculty includes Sumeet Sharma, a national awardee and also Masters in Dramatics, Neeraj Kant—a veteran theatre artist who has an experience of 35 years of working with children—and Gauri Thakur, a young theatre director who is Master of English Literature with specialisation in English Drama. Other than this, many other experts of different art fields like music, dance, painting etc. come as visiting faculty to impart a vast knowledge and exposure to the participants. The lucky participants of Theatre Camp-2025 are Supria Gorka, Tanvi Bajgotra, Vamika Verma, Saanchi Dutta, Dwijesh Dutta, Ruhaan Chandan, Dhanak Chandan, Mahira Singh, Advik Sharma, Adhira Gupta, Reyansh Vaid, Adeesha Singh, Aashrita Sharma, Nirvana Shah, Jazz Shah, Akshaj Mehta, Anvay Mehta, Navda Prasher, Vanya Modi, Kayra Mahajan, Tanvi Mahajan, Raaga Sharma, Shravya Sharma, Aaliya Azeem, Kaustubh Sharma, Viyaan Sharma, Reeshak, Araiya Shan and Kamakhya Bali.
