Kerala Kalolsavam 2026 | How group dance became fete’s piece de resistance

Rajamma, her daughter and granddaughter reached the venue of group dance competition a good two hours before the event started. But every seat – 7,500 of them – had already been taken.

They managed to find seats on the cemented steps on the side of the stage at Thekkinkadu Maidan, but could watch the event only on a big screen installed there.

Group dance is the piece de resistance of the State Arts School Festival. It has been there right from the festival’s first edition, held in Kochi in 1957, as one of the 18 events (that number has now grown to 249).

Students from SRCGHSS, Ernakulam, were the inaugural winners. We don’t know how group dance would have looked on the fete stage seven decades ago. It is unlikely that it would have been as stunning a sight as it is today or could attract crowd in excess of 25,000, which was the case at fetes held in previous years in places like Kozhikode and Malappuram.

Here, there must have been more than 10,000 viewers and many stayed back till late into the night. And they were treated to some exceptional performances too. Even though not all of the 28 groups may have been able to come up with memorable shows, every year, we will get to watch some superbly choreographed and executed pieces that will stay with us for a long time. Like the one performed by Silver Hills HSS, Kozhikode, in the 2016 edition in Thiruvananthapuram about Ayyappa. Festival-goers are still talking about it. They even remember the black-and-gold costumes worn by the dancers.

That was choreographed by M. Vineeth Kumar, a former first-prize winner in Bharatanatyam and Mohiniyattam at the fete.

The Kozhikode-based dance teacher has played a key role in making the group dance event much more enjoyable. Those who follow dance events look out for his productions. “Choreographing an item for the group dance competition is a challenge I enjoy,” says Vineeth. “I first think of a theme and then get the song ready. I take great care in choosing my dancers. This is very important, for they should look good as a group. And it is great if they are classically trained.”

I.P. Divya of Silver Hills is. “I have been performing group dance at the arts festival for the last four years,” she says. “It is thrilling to perform in front of such a massive audience. Sometimes, we get to perform outside the school stages too, like the performance we once gave on M.T. Vasudevan Nair’s characters.”

The group danceallows you that liberty. This year, one group brought to the stage the story of Balamani from the popular film Nandanam.