Bhubaneswar: The much awaited opening ceremony of the men’s Hockey World Cup 2018 scheduled for Tuesday at the Kalinga Stadium will disseminate the message of ‘oneness and a united world’.
This will be showcased through a first-of-its-kind theatrical production and dance ballet titled “The Earth Song”. The production will urge people to erase geographical boundaries and come together as one.
The entire production has been created, written as well as directed by Nupur Mahajan. It will feature Hindi film actor Madhuri Dixit in one of the central characters – Mother Earth. She will be joined by 1100 artistes who will tell the story of ‘humanity and a united world’. The ‘Earth Song’ unfolds five acts and is a 40-minute performance choreographed by Shiamak Davar, while Ranjit Barot has created the original music track.
More than 1,100 artistes will be adding to the grandeur of the show. They will converge at the Kalinga Stadium from across the globe to spread the message of “One World”, in addition to the inherent oneness of humankind. In order to exemplify the message of ‘oneness’ that the opening ceremony intends to impart, around 800 youths from Odisha, who are all first-time dancers, have been trained to be an intrinsic part of “The Earth Song”. In fact, the initiative to engage local youth and give them prominence in the main production makes the entire show a local production. Moreover, the endeavour also provides the youth of Odisha a unique opportunity to be a part of a world stage.
Talking to Orissa POST, Nupur Mahajan, creator and director of ‘The Earth Song’, who has also directed the opening ceremony said, “The people of Odisha present the perfect audience for a writer who wants to break the mould.”
“The Earth Song” is a ballet comprising contemporary, classical, jazz, ballet, Afro as well as Sastriya, Odissi, Mohiniattam, Kathak and more. It will also include drama, dialogue and original music to deliver a strong message of “oneness”. The narration of “The Earth Song” is by Mother Earth, portrayed by Madhuri Dixit.
According to Shiamak Davar, This is among the more interesting ceremonies that he has choreographed. The theme is universal, more so an original production has not been created for an opening ceremony before, which makes this challenging and thrilling. “Madhuri and I have always created magic together and this, together with Nupur Mahajan’s writing and Ranjit Barot’s I believe that together we will create a milestone show.”
The opening ceremony also sees the culmination of the campaign that India has given its heart to Heart Beats for Hockey. From the time that the Chief Minister of Odisha launched the campaign by pledging his heartbeat August 29, many hearts have been pledged for hockey from Kashmir to Kanyakumari. And one of those hearts belongs to none other than Shah Rukh Khan who stated that “mera dil hockey ke liye bahot tez dhadakta hai”.
The superstar will present the collected heartbeats of India to the 16 captains of teams participating in the World Cup once again exemplifying India’s spirit of oneness and harmony. Similarly, music maestro AR Rahman will bring to life his and Gulzar Saheb’s composition ‘Jai India’, which is the official song and tune of the men’s Hockey World Cup 2018. He will also perform some of his most memorable songs including ‘Jai Ho’ – which won him an Oscar.
The duration of the ceremony is 90 minutes and it will be broadcast live November 27 on DD National, DD Sports, and all regional channels in Odisha. In addition it will be streamed live on ‘Heartbeats for Hockey’ FB page.