PNN
Bhubaneswar, July 4: The stage is set for the 22nd Asian Athletics Championship (AAC) 2017, to be kicked off Wednesday with a gala opening ceremony at the Kalinga Stadium here. The events will begin July 6 and end July 9.
The actual event will start from July 6 morning. More than 800 athletes from 45 Asian countries will participate in the march past and oath taking inside the stadium after a 40-minute cultural programme. The programme is designed to display the glorious past of Orissa in terms of culture, heritage; the state’s Buddhist connection with other countries and the current time of modernism. It will start with sun as protagonist. Voiceovers will speak about the history and present period of Orissa, while more than 400 dancers will enact it on stage.
A Thousand Hands, a dance troupe from Thailand, will perform in the opening ceremony. They will make their appearance when voiceovers tell about the connection of Buddhism in India with countries like Sri Lanka and Thailand. The dance programme has been prepared and guided by noted Odissi exponent Aruna Mohanty, while noted singer and composer Shankar Mahadevan with his troupe has been invited to perform in the opening ceremony.
