“Cholo Lathi Kheli” begins today with a camp
“Cholo Lathi Kheli” is a yearlong project jointly organised by Bangladesh Shilpakala Academy (BSA) and Shadhona -- a centre for advancement of South Asian dance and music. The project aims at promoting and popularising lathi khela, a traditional Bangladeshi martial art/performing art form, in a new way.
The project kicks off today through a five-day brainstorming camp at the Rehearsal Room, BSA. The camp will have 52 lathiyal from seven administrative divisions of Bangladesh and experts in the fields of dance, martial arts and lathi khela.
The lathiyal are expected to come from Manikganj, Netrakona, Kishoreganj, Sirajganj, Norail, Kushtia, Kurigram, Sylhet, Barisal and Chittagong. The experts include renowned dancer and general secretary of Shadhona, Lubna Marium; secretary of Bangladesh Lathiyal Federation, Abdullah Al Mamun Taju; president of Bangladesh Karate Foundation, Masum Parvez; folklorist Saymon Zakaria and folk dance specialist from West Bengal, Dr. Tarun Prodhan.
The agenda of the camp includes documentation of the various forms of lathi khela practiced all over Bangladesh, an analysis of the forms and comparison with other global forms of martial arts, a seminar on the preservation of indigenous performing arts and a demonstration (on the last day of the camp) on May 5 at 6:30 pm at the Experimental Hall, BSA.
Minister of Information and Cultural Affairs Abul Kalam Azad is expected to attend the concluding session.
“We hope that through this yearlong event we would be able to regenerate interest in this traditional art form,” said Lubna Marium.
The lathiyal will also be conducting workshops for leading dance schools and theatre groups such as Nrityanchal, Prachyanat, Centre for Asian Theatre, Department of Theatre (Dhaka University), Subachan, among others, in an attempt to familiarise performers with this art.
Countrywide training of lathi khela will start from Khulna (September 15-25). Other camps will be held in Rajshahi (September 26-October 5), Sylhet (October 6-15), Barisal (October 17-27), Chittagong (October 28-November 7), Rangpur (November 8-17) and Dhaka (November 18-27) at the divisional BSA headquarters. On the concluding day of each divisional training camp, vibrant lathi khela demonstrations will be held.
From December 2-16, 2010, a two-day countrywide lathi khela event will be held in all seven divisions, which will be followed by a grooming camp at BSA, Dhaka (December 15-20).
The event will end on April 14, 2011 on the Bengali New Year 1418, with a national event titled 'Jatiyo Lathi Khela'.
Telecommunications service provider Robi is sponsoring the project. Channel i, The Daily Star and abc radio are media partners of “Cholo Lathi Kheli”.
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