Disciplined life is a key to success

Zinnat a well-known dancer of the country has reigned in the field alone for about ten to fifteen years from 1970 to 1986.She started dancing at the age of four or five.

Zinnat's father was the Deputy Magistrate of Jamalpur, when she started to take formal lessons under Mohammad Ali from Madras. 'I used to go to movies with my parents and loved to see the dance sequences of the films. I would admire the pictures of beautiful dancers in books and magazines. I tried to imitate them in front of the mirror. I could think of nothing but dancing. My dream came true and I became a dancer.'

Zinnat has performed at international level several times.

According to Zinnat her best performance was the dance drama 'Shyama' which she performed in 1970 at the Bulbul Lalitkala Academy. It was directed by renowned music personality Atikul Islam. The show was well applauded by all and according to the comment of The Bangladesh Observer the character of Shyama was made for Zinnat.

Zinnat received many awards in her dancing career like Sher-e-Bangla Memorial award 1985, Natya Shabha Award 1987, Cadet Core award 1989, UNESCO Award 1996, Tarokalok Award 1997, Millenium Award 2000 and Amritabazar Award 2001.

Zinnat is proud to have performed with one of the dancing gurus of the country- G A Mannan. She says, 'The guru performed as the hero of my dance drama Nakshi Kathar Math and Mahua. Other partners of her duet dances are Maidul Islam, Hassan Imam, Shafikur Rahman, Humayun Kabir and Amir Hossain Babu.'

Presently, she is the director of the department of production at the Shilpakala Academy where she has been working as a dance director for about five years.

'There was a time when parents never allowed their girls to dance after marriage. But now the situation has changed. The choreography is also developing. And many promising students are coming into this field. Although, dancing as a profession is still full of challenges and needs much patronising.' says Zinnat.