The festival opened with Kathak Nritya Shamproday’s dance drama “Prasanga 47”, written and directed by Saju Ahmed. On Wednesday, the troupe also staged “Shree Radhar Manvanjan”, another dance drama directed by Ahmed, further anchoring the festival in narrative-driven classical expression.

A trendsetter by his own merit and steadfast promoter of the inclusion of male classical dancers in Bangladesh, Shibli Mohammad is trained by one of the biggest names of classical dancing in South Asia, late Pandit Birju Maharaj, the father of Kathak dance.