Mangalore: Glorious Music Troupe gives unique touch to Christmas caroling
Naveen Menezes
Pics: Dayanand Kukkaje
Daijiworld Media Network - Mangalore (NM)
Mangalore, Dec 21: The Glorious Music Troupe, Angelore/Cordel, led by eminent singer Maxim Pereira, is busy bringing joy to scores of families singing Christmas carols door-to-door. But the strategy of the troupe is different this year.
Contrary to tradition, the troupe is made up of professionals. All that they want to do is make you feel the joy of Christmas and dance to their beats. The troupe of about 50 people has professional singers, dancers, guitarists, a brass band, clowns, and a Santa Claus.
Each cluster of the huge troupe has a different dress code, which speaks of their professionalism. If the singers are dressed in white, the clowns are in colorful attire, while the brass band players are dressed in cream colour.
The team manager says it’s a new idea to visit houses dressed in rich costumes with professional players. Says Maxim Pereira, “Since we spend a lot of money on these costumes and on brass band players, we have selected only a few houses and perform for at least 15 minutes.
The people who book our presentation inform their friends, and consequently it turns out into a huge gathering,” he adds.
The carol singing starts with a ‘Gurkar’ traditionally dressed in a suit, who greets the family and introduces the troupe. Then there is the brass band playing ‘Joy to the World’ followed by Christmas carols, which are a mix of English and Konkani songs. Then there is Santa Claus distributing ‘kuswar’ and goodies to the people around especially children. Meanwhile, the brass band presents loud and melodious music to which the jokers and dancers dance with the crowd joining in.
After one such performance, Alan Fernandes, who had invited the troupe to perform said, “The troupe was fantastic. This is much better than the other performers who come and vanish quickly. It enriches our tradition.” On Monday December 16, they went to 11 houses that were previously informed of the concept. The house belonging to Roy Castelino of Shaktinagar was one of these.
“It does not end here. The surplus money collected from the Christmas carols will be given to charity,” says Pereira.