On Sunday June 24th, Tamil youth from all across Canada gathered at the heart of Toronto to celebrate their thriving passion for dance. Metro Convention Centre’s John Bassett Theatre was packed with an upbeat crowd who could not stop cheering. Why? For none other than the 2nd Annual Thaalam competition brought to you by the Arts & Culture Council of Canadian Tamil Youth Alliance. Thaalam, an interuniversity/college dance competition was met with great success.
There were 6 teams that participated: MacFlow Marauders, Montreal Maniacs, Oshawa Titans, Ryerson Royalty, UTSC Assassins, and York Huskies. The amount of talent, devotion, and energy that each team exhibited made it an absolutely great evening. Their creativity, attention to detail, and choreographies made their dance performances astounding and the amount of support they received from family, friends, and the general community was overwhelming! Each team took over the stage and put on an unforgettable show.
All of the participating teams had worked really hard on their dance routines, costumes, and props. They spent a great deal of time perfecting their performances and the dedication the teams shared for dance was obvious when each team got on stage. They were all supported by energetic cheer squads who could not stop cheering. Many of the youth also celebrated their Tamil identity, and incorporated elements of Tamileelam, Tamil culture and heritage in their performances with great pride.
Dance is integral to the Tamil language, culture and history. The Tamil language is comprised of three classes which in unity are referred to as Muthamizh (“three Tamil”): Iyal (poetry), Isai (music) and Nadakam (drama/dance). Together, these three components strengthen the Tamil language and culture. Traditional Tamil dances utilize these three tenants which contribute to the preservation of culture, as was exhibited by these youth dancers. Through costume, music, and incorporative narrative storytelling, the Tamil cultural history is represented, reinforced and reproduced. Many of the teams incorporating Tamil dances including bharatha natyam, kaavadi aatam, silambu attam and villu paatu. By using the culture’s current events and folk stories in dance narrative the information is being preserved, and passed down.
Funds from Thaalam will be allocated towards the initiation of a youth recreation and innovation centre.
Awards were given for a wide variety of categories which were judged by an judging panel excelling in different genres. The People’s Choice Award was determined through online voting on CTYA’s fan page. The Judging Panel marked each team in specific categories using a point-system marking schema. The Judging Panel expressed that this year’s competition really surpassed their expectations. Teams had shown great commitment and the judges were astonished and proud of our youth for displaying their talent. While awards were only given to selected teams, all of the teams captured the heart of the audience and made the night very successful.
The Award Winners are as follows:
People’s Choice Award
This year’s People’s Choice Award goes to: MONTREAL MANIACS
Best Cheer Squad Award
This year’s Best Cheer Squad Award goes to: OSHAWA TITANS
Best Sportsmanship Award
This year’s Best Sportsmanship Award goes to: OSHAWA TITANS
Best Heritage Award
This year’s Best Heritage Award goes to: MACFLOW MARAUDERS AND OSHAWA TITANS (TIE)
Best Portrayal of Theme Award
This year’s Best Portrayal of Theme Award goes to: YORK/SENECA HUSKIES
Best Costume
This year’s Best Costume Award goes to: OSHAWA TITANS
Best Choreography
This year’s Best Costume Award goes to: YORK/SENECA HUSKIES
Best Tamil Heritage Dance Award
This year’s Best Tamil Heritage Dance Award goes to: OSHAWA TITANS
Best Western Dance Award
This year’s Best Western Dance Award goes to: UTSC ASSASSINS
Best Ghaana
This year’s Best Ghaana Dance Award goes to: UTSC ASSASSINS AND YORK/SENECA HUSKIES (TIE)
Best Tamil Classical Dance
This year’s Best Tamil Classical Dance Award goes to: YORK/SENECA HUSKIES
2nd Runner Up
This year’s 2nd Runner Up Award goes to: YORK/SENECA HUSKIES
Runner Up
This year’s 2nd Runner Up Award goes to OSHAWA TITANS
Thaalam Champions
This year’s winner of Thaalam 2012 are UTSC ASSASSINS
The youth who participated displayed their passion for dance and delivered phenomenal dance performances. Team spirit, hard work, and a lot of dedication was clear in their performances. Through this dance, these youth have proved themselves to be skilled and passionate dancers to the greater community.
Congratulations to all the teams, dancers, coordinators and volunteers for putting on such a great show! The dedication and talent that our Tamil youth have continues to make us proud.
For photos, check out our Facebook Fanpage here! Thanks DEV for the photos!
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