Tales of the common people have been depicted through dance by the artistes of Shadhona at the Berlin Hall of Goethe
Institut in Dhanmondi on Tuesday.
Organsied jointly by the Institut and popular local dance troupe Shadhona, the dance production titled A Piece for You Dhaka was choreographed by German choreographer Thomas Leeman. The production is an outcome of a two-week workshop conducted by Leeman as part of his world tour programme.
The production had a surprise at the beginning as the dancers who were sitting among the spectators suddenly began to clap. All the dancers easily blended among the audience because of their casual attire and because they did not don the usual shiny attire and heavy ornaments as the local dancers generally wear during performance.
The dancers danced spontaneously and talked to the audience about their dreams, pleasant and bitter experiences and even shared political views with the audience. Some of them even made the gathering smile while some made them melancholic through their stories. The crowd burst out in laughter when one of the dancers told that he wants our politicians to learn politics from Nelson Mandela and Mahatma Gandhi while describing his dream. Another dancer’s portrayal of how he plays with his little son also entertained the audience.
The dancers running and dancing through the mazes among the rows all over the hall made the audience feel part of the dance.
About the dance, Lubna Marium told New Age that the aim of the production is to break the tradition of classical dance forms of depicting only mythical subject matters. ‘Unfortunately, unlike any other art forms, the classical dance of Indian Sub-continent only deals with legends like Radha Krishna or others and do not tell contemporary stories of the common people. So we are trying to incorporate common stories into dance,’ added Marium.
A very good number of audience mostly youngsters enjoyed the show. Nasif Ahmed, a private university student, told New Age that, ‘I really liked the energy of the dancers in the production.’
-With New Age input
