Bhabna to present ‘Bhanusingher Padabali’ marking Tagore’s birth anniversary

Marking the 159th birth anniversary of Kabiguru Rabindranath Tagore, the dance troupe, Bhabna, led by celebrated dancer Samina Husain Prema, will present a part of their acclaimed dance drama, titled Bhanusingher Padabali. Prema has choreographed and directed the production, which will be released on her Facebook page on May 8.  

Prema, along with Zeenat Afroza Shilu founded Bhabna in 2007. The primary objective of the troupe is to showcase the rich cultural heritage of Bangladesh by incorporating classical dance forms with the timeless creations of Tagore and Nazrul. They also regularly work on folk, martial and contemporary fusion dance forms.

To raise awareness on the coronavirus pandemic, Prema has choreographed and presented several dance productions that went viral on social media. Among them, her performance on Tagore's poem, Khanchar Pakhi Boner Pakhi, in collaboration with Prottoyee Prothoma Rai, was well-received.

As part of their daylong celebration to commemorate Tagore's birth anniversary, Kolkata-based organisation Tirthaneer will air the production on Khanchar Pakhi Boner Pakhi live from their Facebook page at 08:30 pm (8 pm in India), on May 8.   

Bhanushingher Padabali is the book of Padavali poems written by Rabindranath Tagore in 1875. It is his first published poetic work. Padavali is a devotional genre of Vaishnava poems, which narrate the mythological stories about the eternal lovers, Radha and Krishna. Based on the poems of Bhanushingher Padabali, noted teacher and Rabindra Sangeet exponent Shailajaranjan Majumdar arranged a lyrical dance drama of the classics, with the same title.

Bhanusingher Padabali was initially presented by Shadhona on March 28, 2007, at Bangladesh Shilpakala Academy. It received rave reviews. Prema acknowledged the guidance of her Guru Smt Kalavati Devi, Nilanjona Sen, Lubna Marium and Zeenat Afroza Shilu for their efforts in make the production a grand success.

All the songs in Bhabna's production were rearranged by promising Rabindra Sangeet exponent Azizur Rahman Tuheen, a graduate of Visva-Bharati University, Santiniketan. Suman Sarkar from Kolkata directed the music for the dance drama. Several talented singers, led by renowned singer Mita Huq, lent their voices to the featured songs in the production.

Prema, who is also a dance instructor at Bangladesh Shilpakala Academy, studied at Chhayanaut Sangeet Vidyayatan and completed her Master's in Manipuri from Rabindra Bharati University, Kolkata, under the supervision of Guru Smt Kalavati Devi. She has worked for many years on Rabindra Nritya with renowned artiste Sharmila Banerjee. Prema and her dance troupe have earned several accolades over the years.