Dancer on the rise
Tête-à-tête with Nisa
Kavita Charanji
At the mere age of 20, Sabrina Shafi Nisa is a name to watch for. The comely dancer combines her passion for dance with acting on TV and modeling. Asked which medium she roots for, she unequivocally says her forte is dance -- Bharatnatyam, contemporary and folk. "Dance speaks a universal language and I find it a great way to express my emotions," she says.Currently a third year honour's student of English at Siddheswari Girls' College, Nisa embarked on the world of dance at the tender age of four at Bulbul Academy of Fine Arts. Encouraged by her mother Julia, she discovered an innate interest in the medium. Currently a student of dance under the tutelage of Bharatnatyam and modern dancer Anisul Islam Hero, director of the Srishti Cultural centre, dance has taken her to distant climes such as Spain, Turkey, Myanmar, Malaysia, India and Vietnam. Apart from Hero, she has also trained with Kabirul Islam Ratan (folk and contemporary dance) and Minu Haque (Odissi). Several plaudits have come her way: the most recent being the Jatio Shikkha Barsho Puroshkar gold medal (2002) and champion in the Goalini Binodon Bichitra Beauty Contest (2004). Outside the dance firmament, the small screen also attracts Nisa. She is a regular anchor for a weekly programme Cine Tune on Channel 1. The programme traces the history of Bangladeshi film songs. In the ranks of TV dramas, she counts as her favourite Ghure Daranar Shopno (directed by Taher Shipon) aired on ntv. This social drama pits her with well-known actor Asaduzzaman Noor (enacting the role of her father), who she says was a pleasure to work with. Another TV drama she cites is Meghe Boleche Jabo Jabo, aired on ntv every Thursday and Friday at 8:30 pm. Among her recent milestones is game show on Channel i called Citycell Let's Move in which she won the first prize of a car. Other dancers who participated in the show were Munmun Ahmed (Kathak), Tammana Rahman (Manipuri), Dipa Khondoker (folk and creative), Shahidul Islam Babu (contemporary), among others. On the modeling front, she made waves with ads for Lux and Bangla Link. But no, unlike many of her peers, dance is not a launching pad for a career in films or electronic media. Says an unequivocal Nisa, "For me dance is an end in itself." As for the future, Nisa maintains a positive approach about the development of dance in Bangladesh. On whether dance will become her career, she says, "Time will tell."
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Sabrina Shafi Nisa |
