INT'L DANCE FESTIVAL

One of Bangladesh's leading dance companies, Shadhona, has been invited to present a Manipuri dance drama at India's most prestigious International Dance Festival held every year at Khajuraho in Madhya Pradesh.  Shadhona will be presenting 'Radharani'r Oshtoprohor', based on Bangla Vaisnava Padavali kirtans sung during the Nata-palas of the Manipuris of Bangladesh.

'Radharani'r Oshtoprohor' exemplifies the tradition of expressing devotion or 'bhakti' through continuous chanting and performance of devotional songs and dances. 'Prohor', 'prahar' in Sanskrit, is a unit of time. Each day is made of eight 'prahars'.  Among the diverse types of Sankirtan ceremonies, the Nata-Pala is the most complex, involving male drum and cymbal dancers. The Nata-Pala is performed throughout the year at important festivals and at significant “rites-of-passage” in an individual's life. It also serves as a common prologue to the performance of the Rasa-Lila.  The 'nata-pala' of Manipuris of Bangladesh is sung in Bangla.  This particular 'nata-pala' depicts Sri Radha's unremitting devotion towards her divine Lord, Krishna.

This production came out of Sweety Das Chowdhury's work within Shadhona's 'Dhrumel' project to teach Manipuri Dance and Pung to the Manipuris of Bangladesh.  Sweety is a disciple of Smt. Kalavati Devi, wife of Guru Bipin Singh.  She is presently based in Bangladesh for marital reasons. The songs are sung by 'rash-dhari' artistes of the Manipuri community in Bangladesh.

Shadhona will be staging this production in Dhaka tonight, (February 17) at 6:30 pm at the Chhayanaut Cultural Centre, before the 16 member dance troupes leaves for Khajuraho on February 19. Shadhona's Artistic Director is leading the team.  She is also presenting an academic paper on dance practices in Bangladesh at the Seminar organised within the Khajuraho Festival.