Culture Desk
Indira Gandhi Cultural Centre, High Commission of India, Dhaka in association with Bangladesh Shilpakala Academy organized “ICCR Scholar’s evening”, Colours of Kathak by Shibli Mohammad and Shamim Ara Nipa on Saturday at Main Theatre Hall, Bangladesh Shilpakala Academy, Segunbagicha in the city.Shibli Mohammad is a leading exponent of Classical Indian dance and he is also renowned as a performer, teacher and choreographer, specializing in the dance form of Kathak. He started learning dance from Kartik Singh, Ajit Dey and Anita Dey at the Chhayanaut Institute in Dhaka. Shibli was then awarded the ICCR Scholarship to learn under Shreemati Purnima Pandey. Then under the Guru Shishya Parampara Scholarship scheme of ICCR he took training under the legendary Kathak exponent Pandit Birju Maharaj. Apart from being a performer, dancer and choreographer of high caliber, Shibli has received a number of prestigious awards including the UNESCO award for best Bangladeshi dancer, George Harrison Award for Dance in New York (jointly with Shamim Ara Nipa), the Jae Jae Din Award, the Bachshash Award, the Prothom Alo Award and the Lux Channel I Award.
Shamim Ara Nipa is one of the leading dance artistes and choreographers. She took training under G A Mannan and Nikunja Bihari Pal. After completing her training she joined the Shilpakala Academy as a dance artiste-cum-trainer. She has performed in more than 50 countries worldwide. She has taken a particular interest in children’s dance and has used songs and poems to develop and choreograph dances especially for children, ensuring there is a place even for the very young within the country’s cultural arena. She is at present working on a dance documentation project involving research into the roots of rural folk dance in seven divisions of Bangladesh. Ms. Nipa is also an accomplished actress and has appeared in the leading role in at least fifty dramas produced by Bangladesh Television. Her popularity has led to her being chosen for the role of celebrity dance artiste in the television commercial for the international soap brand ‘Lux’. She is also recipient of numerous awards and most notable is the Ekushey Padak.
Since 2011, Nipa together with Shibli Mohammad, been comparing the weekly dance magazine programme, Tarana, on Bangladesh Television (BTV).
