Goenchim Noketram: Cultural ambassadors

Since her childhood days, Gina Marianela has always been deeply drawn towards folk art and the beauty of Goan village culture. And it was this commitment to preserving and promoting the folk art of Goa through song and dance that prompted this dedicated artist who is also a teacher by profession, to start ‘Goenchim Noketram', a Goan folklore and musical troupe in 2007.
"The art binds us to our culture, to our roots. We must learn our traditions so that this legacy can be passed on to our future generation. Art must not die," says Gina Marianela "Goa has a vibrant and colourful cultural heritage to offer to the world and we must contribute our bit to spread the art to more and more people." Today, ‘Goenchim Noketram' which consists of 26 artists of extraordinary talent, the youngest being 11 years old and the eldest 70, has crossed boundaries and performed in 19 countries including all the Emirates of UAE, Qatar, Bahrain, Argentina, Paraguay, Malaysia, South Africa, USA, Trinidad, Tobago, Grenada, Honk Kong, Macao, China and Maldives!
Recalling her childhood days in her little village Sarjora, near Cuncoliem in South Goa, Gina says, "Our close-knit village had many unique traditions which were celebrated through various cultural get-togethers. We, Goans don't require reasons to celebrate life. Every small occasion is a celebration in itself - be it a religious get-together or a harvest festival or a wedding. Celebrations are a continuous process in Goan villages. It was here that my love for folk art bloomed."
Later in school, Gina participated in all extracurricular activities as performing gave her immense joy. She did not have any formal training but the school and her village were the biggest stages that boosted her confidence and she kept on learning new skills in performing art.
For her, it was a simultaneous journey - into her career as a teacher and as a performing artist on stage. Her stint as a teacher was with breaks. It was in 2007 that she got a permanent posting in a higher secondary in Ponda. It was the very same year that she built her troupe too. She recalls, "I decided to participate in Mando festival but for that I needed a team of artists. My family supported my idea and I spread a word around. Soon friends and their friends joined hands. There were few familiar faces among those who gathered on November 15 along with some totally unknown, fresh faces too. But thankfully, as we were all enthusiastic and like-minded, we gelled well."
Narrating that experience Gina smiles, "Our artists' group had many musicians, accord players, singers, dancers. Deciding our motto, to protect, preserve and promote, we kick-started and to our surprise, we won the first place in the original category, second place in the traditional category and as best group won the mando award. It was a great start! Our debut performance had won us the first place. After that, there was no looking back.
As cultural ambassadors of Goa, this year the troupe is completing a decade on stage and so far the team has performed 30 national and 45 international shows apart from innumerable prize-winning state stage shows - bagging 25 plus awards for their excellent performances.
"We are celebrating our 10th anniversary on November 19 and to mark the occasion, we are releasing an audio CD," states Gina Marianela. The audio album ‘Goa -Tuzo Mog Mhaka' that will be released on November 19 has seven tracks which have been influenced by the troupe's visits to various countries. "Narrowing down to six countries we selected the rhythm and genre of the music of these countries for our Konkani songs" explains Gina, an awardee of Kala Srujan Puraskar for the year 2011-12.
Appreciating the multitalented personalities in her team , Gina gives credit to the team effort for the success they have achieved so far. "It is because of these gems that we have been winning prizes in every Mando festival. We have also won prizes for the best music and lyrics too," Gina admits gracefully.
Excited about the new CD, the songs of which she has penned herself, she briefs that the songs are not folk songs but are inspired by their visits to different countries.
The title song ‘Goa - Tuzo Mog Mhaka' has the SOCA rhythm and is influenced by their visit to the Grenada carnival. Reggae is influenced by Trinidad and Tobago while Tango is influenced by Argentina. The fourth track is a duet having a typical Goan rhythm while the fifth track is inspired by New York and it gives the feel of a Broadway musical. The sixth song is mixture of Portuguese and Spanish, influenced by Macau and Paraguay. The last track is a Goan mando.
The music has been arranged by music maestro Mukesh Ghatwal who has maintained the authenticity of the genre while the cinematography of the theme song has been done by Patson Barbosa. The video of this theme song will be uploaded on social media on November 19. As for Gina Marianela, awards and prizes don't matter as long as the show is on, because the song and music follows, wherever she goes. "Singing and dancing is a part of our culture and we must continue doing it, individually and as a community," she says, adding that she plans to hold workshops, lectures, practical demonstrations and awareness campaigns, in the near future.