Taking 'Chandalika' to the West

Participants of Chandalika along with Nazneen Hossain (2-R)

Sharmila admits to being a little shaky initially because she had choreographed and performed Chandalika only in Bangladesh. Explains Sharmila, "Students here know my style of teaching. I took up the challenge only because I wanted to take Bangladeshi culture to Bengali children overseas, who otherwise are not fully conversant with their heritage."

Sharmila is quick to give credit to Bengali expatriate and a former batch mate from Dhaka University, Nazneen Hossain. Apparently Nazneen was instrumental in the formation of Prantik, of which she is the general secretary.

The performance turned out superbly, says Sharmila. "I have a distinctive style of movement and hand gestures. However, the students worked very hard to learn from me."

Much effort went into the nitty gritties, she points out. The carefully selected costumes went from Bangladesh, while some were organised in New Jersey. Also for the first scene of Chandalika the female characters were required to wear ornaments fashioned out of flowers. Since the requisite flowers were not available in the US, Sharmila (who played the role of Chandalika's mother, Maya) used plastic flowers.

"The support from the Bengali expatriate community was overwhelming," asserts Sharmila. Many of the parents had to balance their jobs, their children's rehearsals and other commitments -- often covering huge distances."The barriers completely broke down on the final day," says an upbeat Sharmila who points out that in the first scene, which she watched from the wings, she couldn't distinguish whether she was in Dhaka or New Jersey.

Sharmila has carved a niche in the Bangladeshi dance arena including Manipuri, Odissi, Bharatnatyam, Kathakali and creative dance. She is also the director of Nritya Nandan and teaches Manipuri dance at Chayyanaut.