A jungle yoga adventure complete with little princesses, princes and wizards was on offer yesterday at the Sharjah International Book Fair (SIBF) held at Expo Centre which concluded yesterday (Saturday).During the show, “The Yogist Trip”, the stage was transformed into a little fairyland as girls and boys, donning princess, fairy and wizard costumes, entered the stage and presented an opening dance sequence mixed with yoga poses, for the play that tells the story of two princesses overcoming fear and fighting wizards using yoga.In a jungle to escape from the wizards, the fairy godmother teaches yoga moves inspired by a frog and butterfly to the princesses. They also learn how meditation can help you find inner balance and confidence. In the play, the fairy tells them that to be strong princesses you will have to be calm, confident and prepared. And then demonstrates the widely known cross-legged meditation pose with her hands on knees.
The play featured some famous yoga postures such as the “Purna Titli Asana” meaning Butterfly Pose, “Mandukasana” meaning Frog Pose and the “Vajrasana” meaning Lotus Position performed by kids, who also did a lot of stretching throughout the act. It was also surprising to see the children were perfect at lip syncing with the pre-recorded dialogues while they were stretching and dancing. The Garage Kids, who presented the play, is based in Dubai and provides “edutainment” programmes through afterschool and summer/spring camp activities.Manal Rayess, Founder and CEO said, “We mix different art forms to spark children’s imagination, like here where we used music, acting, and yoga to present “The Yogist Trip”. We started The Garage Kids early this year and SIBF is our first large scale event. I feel so happy and honoured to be here, as we are putting much effort in polishing children’s talents to perform at events like this.”
The Garage Kids offers afterschool activities to develop children’s analytical and artistic thinking and teaches music, art, theatrical play, scientific experiments, and craft using wires, wood, metals, or Lego pieces. According to Rayess activities also include book reading, storytelling, creative reading, creative writing, yoga, plays, problem solving games, and more.The SIBF 2015 featured a wide array of kids’ activities to entertain and educate the children and student visitors, including theatrical shows and performances, educational and awareness activities, and interactive scientific workshops. The programmes and workshops were specifically designed for children of all ages to foster their talents and enrich their knowledge with science, literature and art. In addition to the Kids Programme, SIBF this year organised intellectual programme featuring seminars, lectures, cultural and poetry evenings, a Cooking Corner, and a Social Networking platform..