Three-day Kathak dance fest concludes at IDEB | The Asian Age Online, Bangladesh
A three-day Kathak dance festival, titled 9th Kathak Nritya Utsab concluded at Muktijuddha Smriti Auditorium in Institution of Diploma Engineers, Bangladesh in Kakrail of Dhaka.The festival, which began on Thursday, has been organised for the ninth consecutive year by Kathak Nritya Sampraday, which has been working to promote Kathak dance across the country.The festival is featuring both solo and group dance performances.
Freedom fighter and theatre activist M Hamid inaugurated the festival. Dance directors MR Wasek and Farhana Chowdhury Baby, Chhayanaut Sangeet Bidyayatan teacher Belayet Hossain Khan and others were present as guests at the inaugural ceremony.Kathak Nritya Sampradaya director Saju Ahmed delivered welcome speech at the event.
‘COVID-19 has affected the livelihoods of artistes. Many professional dancers were forced to make career change. Though it is difficult to organise dance festivals amid the COVID-19 crisis, such events can inspire young professional dancers to continue with their profession,’ said M Hamid.
‘There are eight forms of classical dances namely Bharatnatyam, Kathak, Kathakali, Kuchipudi, Manipuri, Mohinattyam, Odissi and Sattriya in the Indian sub-continent. Every year we organise this festival at Chhayanut auditorium but this year we arranged it at Muktijuddha Smriti auditorium due to the COVID-19 crisis. Such festivals help to promote Kathak dance among the younger generation,’ said Saju Ahmed.
Eminent dancer Munmun Ahmed, Saju Ahmed, Ananna Wafi Rahman, Shuporna, Priyanka, Tasnia Imam, Purna, Sruti, Maliha, Tanha, Anusa, Jarin, Boisakhi Majumder, Oni, Monira parvin Happy, Partho Das, Dipa Sarkar and others performed at the festival on the opening day. Dancers namely Saju Ahmed, Shuporna, Priyanka, Tasnia Imam, Purna, Sruti, Maliha and Alif commenced the programme with a group dance performance titled Prabhu Bandana. It was directed by Saju Ahmed. Besides, they also performed a dance with raga Malkauns.
In solos, dancer Munmun Ahmed presented a dance recital titled Krishna Bandana, Baisakhi Majumdar presented a dance recital synchronised with Kathak Bandis, Ananna Wafi Rahman presented a Kathak Tarana and Monira Parvin Happy performed Thumri, among others. The second day of the festival featured solo and group dance recitals along with a seminar.
Dance researchers Nigar Chowdhury, Sheikh Mehedi Hasan and others attended the seminar which was streamed on the Facebook page of Kathak Nritya Sampraday at morning.Besides, the troupe also streamed a live dance event on its Facebook page at evening where artistes from across the country performed live dance performances. The concluding day featured discussion along with solo dance performances by artistes namely Nisha Jabiri, Munmun Ahmed, Munira Parvin Happy, Ananna Wafi Rahman, Oysha and others.
