Sudeshna Swayamprabha
Dancer & Teacher
Sudeshna Swayamprabha's young age belies her remarkable achievements in the sphere of dance -- particularly Bharatanatyam and Manipuri. One of her earlier milestones was her enactment of the heroine in Tagore's dance drama, titled “Chitrangada”, staged by Sunnydale School.
It is a tightrope walk to balance dance with academics. On one occasion she recalls missing classes for almost one month because she had gone for a performance to India. “Even during my exams I kept dancing and performing,” recalled Sudeshana.
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Photo: Mumit M. |
The daughter of well-known dance exponent Sharmila Bandyopadhyay and elocutionist Bhaswar Bandyopadhyay, Sudeshna has a firm grounding in dance. It is not easy all the way, as she says her mother is a hard taskmaster and makes no compromises on practice time, which could range from 45 minutes to an hour-and a half per day.
Sudeshna has trained in Manipuri from Manipuri Nartanalaya (under Guru Bipin Singh and Kalawati Devi). Likewise she has picked up the elements of creative dance from Amala Shankar of the Uday Shankar India Cultural Centre in Kolkata. A student of Chhayanat, she has also studied under Belayet Hossain Khan (Bharatanatyam) and Tamanna Rahman (Manipuri). Another of her teachers is Professor CV Chandrashekhar, in Bharatanatyam.
“My motto is to keep going so that I can achieve my goal,” says Sudeshna, who is a student and member of the dance group Nrityanandan, run by Sharmila. She certainly practices what she preaches. At the age of four, she went along with her mother to the US. At the FOBANA Conference (an organisation of Bangladeshi expatriates) in New Jersey in 1994, Sudeshna along with other children danced to “Dhono Dhanno Pushpo Bhora”, her first performance. Since then her passion for dance has remained undimmed, with overseas performances in Ujjain, Delhi, Sagar and Kolkata in India.
Now she is honing in another classical dance form, Odissi, under the tutelage of Benzir Salam. She is now a teacher at Chhayanaut Sangeet Bidyayatan.
Sudeshna unintentionally got her big break into movies recently. Unintentionally, because Sudeshna's undeterred passion lies in dance and she has not been keen on acting. Big break, as the movie -- “Mon-er Manush” -- in question is a biopic of the mystic bard Lalon (based on a Sunil Gangopadhyay novel) and was directed by internationally renowned helmer Goutam Ghosh.
Sudeshna played the role of Golapi, Lalon's wife.
How did it feel facing a movie camera for the first time? “I don't have stage fright, as I've been performing since childhood. And as many would agree, acting comes easy when you're a dancer. But, yes, of course it was my first time facing a movie camera and the first scene we shot involved renowned Indian actor Prosenjit and me. It was somewhat intimidating. However, the director and the actor were both very understanding and they put me at ease,” she says.
Are more films/TV plays in her future? “Dance is and will always remain my priority. But if I come across a good script, why not?”
“As a dancer, I was inspired a lot when I won the 'Tarana' knock-out dance competition in 2008, which was aired on national television. It was my first participation in such dance competition,” mentions Sudeshna.
Sudeshna is currently a student of the Department of Anthropology, Dhaka University.
Compiled by Star A&E Correspondent
Iftekhar Alam Prodhan
Tabla Artiste
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Photo: Bengal Foundation |
Iftekhar Alam Prodhan is a tabla player from Dinajpur. He comes from a family of musicians. He has been actively involved with music for over a decade, and has performed with a host of renowned musicians, including Asim Chowdhury, Shuvra Guho, Sharothi Chatterjee, Asit Dey, Yakub Ali Khan, Salauddin Ahmed, Ustad Syed Zakir Hossain, Niaz Muhammad Chowdhury and many more.
“My father was a professional tabla player and a music teacher. He was the one who introduced me to tabla when I was in grade two,” said Iftekhar.
“I have learned to play tabla under Pt. Bijon Kumar Chowdhury of Chittagong and Syed Meher Hossain of Dhaka. I have also been training under Pt. Sanjoy Mukharjee of Kolkata. I am very grateful to all of my teachers,” he added.
After graduating from college, Iftekhar was enlisted as a staff musician of Bangladesh Betar, Chittagong, and his career in music began. He worked there for two years, after which he moved to Dhaka. He is now an enlisted musician of Bangladesh Betar, Dhaka, and a fulltime teacher at Chhayanaut Sangeet Bidyayatan.
“There are couple of things I would like to point out. First, when it comes to playing the tabla, formal lessons are important, since a thorough understanding of musical theory is essential. Secondly, I think tabla as a solo instrument is under-appreciated. We usually see tabla as accompaniment, rather than taking the lead. Tabla as an instrument can stand out on its own,” explained the artiste.
On the present state of classical music in Bangladesh, Iftekhar said, “There are many positives to be taken from the state of classical music in Bangladesh today. The number of classical concerts and performances are on the rise. The number of emerging artistes is very encouraging. Today we can be very optimistic about classical music.”
“We have the audience, we have the artistes, what we lack is a broad enough platform that can reach out to all parts of society. We need more primetime classical music programmes on TV, practice of more classical arts; anything that can get us more involved and aware of the potentials of classical music,” said the artiste.
Compiled by Star A&E Correspondent
Tahmina Anwar Anika
Dancer
Kathak, one of the eight forms of Indian classical dance, originated in North India. The term “kathak” is derived from the Sanskrit word “katha,” meaning story and “kathaka” means she who tells a story.
Bangladesh has quite a few accomplished Kathak dancers to boast of and young dancers such as Tahmina Anwar Anika are seemingly treading the right track to greatness.
Anika began learning the ropes of dance at the age of three. Trained initially by Munmun Ahmed, she began taking lessons from gurus Pandit Krishan Mohan Misra and Guru Belayet Hossain Khan. “I didn't know any particular dance form when I was a children. There was this annual function and I was not selected, as I wasn't learning dance officially. Shortly after that, I started training under my gurus.”
Anika gave her first performance at the age of five. She won several contests, including a national competition organised by Bangladesh Shilpakala Academy. These were hard won achievements. The young dancer says that she had to struggle a great deal to qualify for what she has achieved so far and looks forward to further accomplishments in future.
A tough challenge, she says is combining dance with academics. She would like to major in both science and dance. When asked if she has any plan on the dance front other than enhancing her knowledge in it, she says with a captivating smile “Yes, I definitely do.
“Although I don't want to be a teacher, I want to work with dance. I want to break the tradition of following the same old poses and postures taught by our teachers. I want to gain enough knowledge in dance first, and then work on it and generate awareness in the concept that a lot more can be achieved by breaking boundaries.”
“Songs speak to me, and I reply to them with my rhythmic stomping. It is tough, it has always been, and my daily routine revolves around my dancing. I take two-three hours from my daily routine just so I can sharpen my dancing skills,” she adds. To promote Kathak in its purest form, and represent our culture at an international level, Anika is involved with organisations such as the World Dance Alliance.
Questioned on her interest on other forms of dance, Anika said, “I have always been interested in folk, contemporary and creative dance. I want to do something new, in being able to express myself better. I attended a workshop on contemporary dance by Urmi Mala Sharkar of the World Dance Alliance, and found that the ideas being discussed were exactly what I wanted to do.”
She has dazzled audiences with her performances both in Bangladesh and India, earning herself rave reviews from all quarters. With her passion for dance, Anika is a superb role model for other up and coming dancers.
Compiled by Star A&E Correspondent