Stellar workshop explores storytelling through dance

An immersive workshop in Dhaka is set to explore how personal and everyday stories can be translated into dance and movement-based performance.

Titled “Embodied Concepts of Prokriti”, the long-term workshop brings together body-based knowledge, personal experience, and artistic practice to engage with themes of gender, society, and the environment. A total of 35 participants—including dancers, writers, designers, and researchers—have been selected through an audition process. The programme places particular emphasis on developing feminist and care-based creative practices through dance theatre.

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The workshop inaugurated on Friday (April 17) at 11:00am at the rehearsal room of the National Music, Recitation and Dance Centre of Bangladesh Shilpakala Academy. It will continue until September.

The opening ceremony featured a welcome address by Lubna Marium, artistic director of cultural organisation Shadhona. Dr Imtiaz Ahmed, executive director of the Centre for Alternatives, presented a keynote titled “Using Micro-Narratives to Tell Our Stories”. Representatives from Bangladesh Shilpakala Academy, the British Council, and Shadhona were also present. Participants presented short performances as part of the inaugural session.

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The workshop mentored by international theatre practitioner Raymond Caldwell, Lubna Marium, dancer and educator Sohini Das Hartzmann, actor Nayla Azad Nupur, and actor and educator Samina Lutfa, among others.

During the programme, participants developed feminist dance productions, which are scheduled to be performed on September 25 at Aloki Convention Centre in Tejgaon as part of the WOW Bangladesh Chapter’s day-long festival.

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According to the organisers, the initiative aims to create a creative space where women’s voices, experiences, and artistic expressions can engage with broader social conversations on gender equality, care, and environmental responsibility.

The workshop is jointly organised by Shadhona and Nrityashilpi Foundation Bangladesh, with support from Bangladesh Shilpakala Academy and financial assistance from the British Council and the WOW Foundation.