Dance traditions of Bengal: High time for a monumental re-evaluation
Dance and music are ingrained in Bengali traditions. Originating in the rural areas, almost all customs involve narration in the form of songs and certain physical movements. Today, burdened under financial woes and threatened by the invasive global electronic media, these traditions are gradually losing ground. Adding to that loss is the lack of government and non-government initiatives to conserve the art forms and the escalating preference for razzle-dazzle over authentic folklore.
In this milieu, dance organisation Nrityanchal has taken an initiative to conduct researches on traditional dances of Bengal, hold classes and trainings on them, and present them to the world. Nrityanchal unveiled the plan and invited suggestions from cultural personalities, historians, researchers and others representing different mediums at a seminar yesterday. The round table was held at the seminar room, Bangladesh Shilpakala Academy (BSA).
Danseuse Shamim Ara Nipa, one of the directors of Nrityanchal, read out the keynote paper.
According to Nipa's paper, "What we see -- labelled as 'folk dance' -- on the urban stage, is basically movements developed by reputable dancers, using everyday rural objects like 'gamchha,' 'paulo,' 'langal' etc as props. These compositions don't have history or a background involving rituals.
"The diverse ethnic groups in our country have remarkable dance traditions. Rabindranath Tagore introduced Manipuri dance to the world (Manipuri is now considered one of the major Indian classical dance forms). 'Jhumur' dance performed during 'Karam Puja' by the Ora(n)os have been appreciated by the mainstream Bengali enthusiasts. But unfortunately, majority of the traditional dance forms of Bengal remain unexposed. Through this project Nrityanchal intends to re-evaluate and restructure what is commonly known as 'folk dance' in our country."
The project will be developed in three stages: field work and research that would involve recording performances of the dance forms in their areas of origin; training young dancers, thus starting off a movement to conserve and continue these traditions and finally, holding nationwide presentations of the dances.
The estimated duration of the project is two years.
Folk researcher Simon Zakaria was the chief discussant. Zakaria's work on performing arts of rural Bengal has garnered wide appreciation among cultural enthusiasts. According to him, "Narrative, music and dance cannot be separated from each other in the context of rural Bengali traditions. The tradition of these folk art forms date back at least 3,000 years. Terracotta plaques on temple walls throughout Bengal support this notion."
Zakaria cited Chaitanya Mahaprabhu inviting his disciples to join him in dancing as a reference to social/spiritual significance of the art form in this region during the Middle Ages.
Zakaria also mentioned some indigenous dance forms like "Padmar Nachon"; "Behular Nachari," "Baidyar Naach" and "Pori Naach" (of Tangail); "Ashtak Naach" (of Narail) and "Lathi Naach," "Bahurupi Nritya," "Gazir Jatra" (of Manikganj). A video clip featuring these performances was screened at the seminar.
Among others, noted litterateur Syed Shamsul Haq, historian Dr. Enamul Haque, cultural activist Kamal Lohani, theatre personality Ramendu Majumder, Dr. Israfil Shaheen (Department of Theatre and Music, Dhaka University) and dancer Sharmila Banerjee spoke at the seminar.
Possible resources for the project were also discussed at the seminar.
Muhammad Jahangir, coordinator of Nrityanchal, was the moderator of the round table.
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