School celebrates religious festival
Maidenhead: Students educated on the story of Diwali
The story of Diwali was brought to life at a Maidenhead school this week as children learned about the religious festival.
Furze Platt Infant School, in Oaken Grove, welcomed dancers Sankari Mridha and Siddhi Abhay from Harrowbased dance company Srishti for an interactive assembly on Tuesday, which was performed to Year 1 pupils.
Diwali has huge significance in Hindu, Jain and Sikh communities and is traditionally celebrated as the festival of lights in the autumn, with fireworks often let off into the sky and feasts shared between families.
Youngsters at the Maidenhead school were taught about the religious festival and some dances associated with India, with the visit organised by arts venue Norden Farm, based in Altwood Road.
Siddhi and Sankari are practitioners of the Indian classical dance forms, Kathak and Bharatnatyam, both of which are known for their versatility and uniqueness of expression and gestures.
The pair used hand gestures and movements aligned with various stories in order to showcase the vibrant festival of Diwali.
Srishti has been around for 32 years and its awardwinning shows have toured the UK and gone international.
The group have also developed a series of outreach workshops at places including care homes, day centres and community centres.
The assembly was supplied by the Farm Out programme at Norden Farm, funded by the Spoore, Merry and Rixman Foundation charity.