Upholding the folk dance tradition

Farhana has an old association with dance. Initially she was sent to Bulbul Academy of Fine Arts (BAFA) to learn Nazrul Sangeet. But later, inspired by her mother, Rahiza Khanom Jhunu, a veteran dancer, Baby switched to learning dance at the same academy when she was in class nine. After completing her five-year-course at the Academy, she took the lessons in Bharat Natyam under Sukla Sarkar, Kathak under Shibli Mohammad and Odissi under Sunny Mahapatra.

Three years ago Baby joined BAFA as a teacher. She took on the mantle of dance director as well. Inspired by Neepa and Shibli, with whom she has worked in many dance dramas and pieces, her first directorial venture was for the children of the Academy. Her innovative direction of the famous dance drama of Tagore Mayar Khela won appreciation. She thinks that her best performance was in the dance drama Hajar Tarer Beena where she played the central character Mandira in the early 1990s.

Farhana feels that the modern dance form has taken over because the dancers in Bangladesh are busy experimenting with new and trendy dance forms. She is of the opinion that the popular demand for modern dance has fuelled the growth of this form. According to her, the viewers are not interested in fusion dance. However, Farhana has an open mind on this issue. 'If the choreographers want to blend new essence with the classic ones, they should do it with creativity and respect. The aim should not be to introduce change just for the sake of change.'

Baby feels that although dance is a 'must' in any state function or international performance, it is impossible to take dance as a profession in our county yet. 'It is obvious that dance is an expensive medium compared to other art forms. Producers nowadays do not care much about the quality. This attitude needs to be altered. If all the dancers jointly protest, only then will we get a fair deal,' she opines.

She is reluctant to perform with a single partner because such duos become monotonous. She admires Shamim Ara Neepa, Sohel Rahman, Deepa Khondokar, Lopa Chowdhury, Sadia Islam Mou, Chadni and Jhinuk.

Baby questions why, while there are generous awards in so many art forms in the country, the authorities are reluctant to give awards in dance categories. 'There are very few organisations that give awards to dancers. This is a very unfortunate situation.'