As part of British Council's four-month long festival, titled 'Rediscovering Tagore', a contemporary performance of Tagore's famed dance-drama “Tasher Desh” will be staged at National Auditorium, Bangladesh Shilpakala Academy on April 22.
This adaptation of “Tasher Desh” (a Shadhona production) will present a fusion of classical Indian and contemporary British dance forms. Accomplished Bangladeshi dancer Warda Rihab (who specialises in Manipuri dance) and Rachel Krische, head of Dance at Leeds Metropolitan University, UK (known for her expertise on contemporary British dance forms) are jointly choreographing the dance drama.
Sharing her experience of working with Bangladeshi dancers, Rachel said, “My visit to Dhaka and work with Shadhona (a centre for advancement of South Asian music and dance) marked the beginning of a wonderful opportunity to share ideas. This festival is the perfect occasion for this to happen, given Tagore's advocacy of cultural collaboration and exchange.”
Commenting on the ways in which their staging of “Tasher Desh” will be different from other performances of 'Rabindrik Dance', Warda Rihab said, “Rabindrik dance-dramas are substantially different from other dance forms. That's why they are called Rabindra Nritya [Rabindrik Dance]. Rabindrik Dance usually comprises of classical dance forms. For the first time in Bangladesh, we're trying to mingle western contemporary dance with classical Chhau and Manipuri. This approach to 'Tasher Desh' is completely new and I believe the audience will like it. I admire Rachel's enthusiasm.”
“The trickiest part, for Rachel, was to find those movements of contemporary western dance that do not clash with Manipuri and Chhau. And I think Rachel has been good at it. The blend has been so seamless that I think the audience will have a hard time telling which movements are contemporary and which are Manipuri,” Rihab added.
When asked why no one has tried to fuse these dance forms until now, the artiste said, “In Bangladesh we are pretty rigid about Rabindrik Dance. That is probably the reason why a fusion has not been tried before.” She added, “Rather than just rehearsing the usual stuff, these past few weeks had been a period of rigorous research for us. Visualise bold Purulia Chhau movements by dancers wearing huge masks and then suddenly breaking into a contemporary move the next moment!”
The Daily Star is the communication partner of the 'Rediscovering Tagore' festival.
News Source: The Daily Star