Program Gallery
Arupratan -2009-
In 2009, the organization began with the staging of Tagore’s musical drama Arupratan (a shorter, more stage-worthy version of Raja…but not widely known to the South-East Asian immigrant population in the greater Washington DC area).
Samannya-Kshati (A Trivial Loss) -2011-
May 7th, 2011 was Tagore’s sesquicentennial birth anniversary.
On that date, Tagore Music Group staged Samannya-Kshati (A Trivial Loss), a dramatized version of Tagore’s poem by the same name.
This musical, which imparted an important life's lesson, was highly colorful and chock full of Tagore songs and dances.
Chhobi (The Painting) -2012-
In 2012, the organization staged Chhobi (The Painting), a dramatized version of a short story penned by people’s author Sarat Chandra Chattopadhyay, an eminent Bengali litterateur, a contemporary of Tagore. The special feature of this musical drama was that it was interspersed with appropriate Tagore songs.
This drama became so popular that it was staged that same year as part of Sanskriti's Durga Puja festivities (Sanskriti being the largest Bengali Association in Maryland)
In addition, this was an entry in the Drama Competition for that year's Bangamela (held in Virginia in July 2012) and came out winning 3 awards... Best Actor, Best Stage Design and Best Use of Songs in a Drama. The judges were two eminent theater personalities... one from West Bengal, India and the other from Bangladesh.
Arakan-er Rani (The Queen of Arakan) -2013-
For the organization, 2013 was a highly active year, packed with cultural programs.
Several different Tagore productions were staged throughout the year, including a musical drama Arakan-er Rani (The Queen of Arakan) created from Tagore’s short story Dahlia.
Sapta-Kanya -2013-
Later another dance drama, Sapta-Kanya, a tale of the seven heroines of Tagore, was presented in a home theater.
The Sapta-Kanya concept was so popular that Tagore Music Group was later invited to stage this program at Hershey, Pennsylvania.
Tomari Raagini -2014-
In 2014, the organization again presented a dance program completely out of the box… one in which 12 different Indian classical Ragas were demonstrated side by side with their corresponding Tagore songs.
This program showcased, within a limited timeframe, the uniqueness of Tagore’s treatment of each of those Ragas in his own compositions.
A large variety of dance forms and 36 dancers were used. This photo shows a modern dance style depicting a short story....while demonstrating Raaga Basant.
A program on this theme had never been presented in the area before.
Hrin-Shodh (The Redemption) -2017-
In 2017 Tagore Music Group became a bit more adventurous and presented two dramas in one evening, back to back.
One was BHOJ (The Banquet), a pure comedy based on Tagore’s short story The Free Meal.
And the other was a more serious drama based on Tagore’s novel Shodh-Bodh (The Redemption).
Presenting two dramas in one evening posed considerable challenge for the organizers, the technicians, as well as the actors, as some of them were involved in both the dramas.
The Banquet -2017-
“The Banquet” was presented by popular demand two weeks later at the Northern Virginia Durga Puja.
Karna-Kunti
(Mother and Son – A Discourse)
-2018-
In April of 2018, two unique dramas were presented.
The first was “Mother and Son – A Discourse” - the English adaptation of Tagore’s iconic poem written on a politically and sentimentally charged episode from the Indian Epic Mahabharata.
It was short, but succinct and left a lasting impression on the audience.
Aju Sakhi -2018-
Dance Guru & Kathak Maestro Sri Sandip Mallick was invited to join us for the Poetry of Love project and he obliged. Came two weeks before the show and for long hours trained and coached the dancers relentlessly and the result was an uproariously successful production. Here he is dancing to one of Tagore's Bhanusingh-er Padabali with one of our local talents.
-2019-
2019 marked a full decade for the organization. It was as if we completed a full circle of successful staging of Tagore’s literary works. To celebrate the tenth anniversary, Tagore Music Group of Greater Washington DC recreated Tagore’s dance drama Arupratan, this time in an even more colorful and professional format.
Another highlight of the year was the invitation to stage Matir Kanya – Daughter of Earth (originally created and presented in 2016) at the prestige location of ICCR (The Indian Council for Cultural Relations auditorium) in Kolkata. This was our very first invitation to perform abroad, and it was a thrilling experience.
-2020-
In 2020, the organization had originally planned on staging a play written by the organization’s Executive Director on the brief but significant encounter between Tagore and the beautiful Argentinian poet-socialite Victoria Ocampo. However, as staged production was not possible throughout the year, the organization put together three virtual dramas via the ZOOM portal…in June, July and October of 2020. All three ZOOM dramas were adaptations of Satyajit Ray's short stories....1. Asamanja-babu'r Kukur (we named it Brownie) 2. Sahadeb-babu'r Portrait (we called it simply Portrait) and 3. Chilekotha (from Ray's original story by the same name).
