Nibedita Dey presents Rabindra Nritya in its purest form, reports Canvas
NIBEDITA DEY, specialising in Manipuri dance and Rabindra Nritya Natya, has carved out a niche in the cultural milieu of Shillong and the Northeast at large. She has brought out her maiden audio-video DVD – Nrittye Sangeet e Tomaye Pronam – dedicated to Nobel laureate Rabindranath Tagore on his 153rd birth anniversary.
The CD was launched at Shillong’s Brookside Mansion by Meghalaya Arts and Culture director MW Nongbri during the recently-concluded Rabindra Jayanti. Nibedita’s production house brought out the ten-song CD that runs for 45 minutes. It presents Rabindra Nritya in its archetypal form away from the increasingly classical lean that is seen now. She received overwhelming support from her husband, who works in the Union government, besides her in-laws in bringing out the CD.
Born in Guwahati, Nibedita is the youngest of five sisters and two brothers, all of whom are well established in the field of culture. She had her initial dance lessons at home from her sister Shikha Sarkar. Later, she went to a dance school in Guwahati where she learnt Manipuri dance under the tutelage of Deben Tamuli and Guru Manisana Singh and received her Sangeet Visharad (graduation in dance and music) from Bhatkhande Sangeet Vidyapith, Lucknow followed by Bangiya Sangeet Parishad, Kolkata. However, she continued to learn Rabindra Nritya Natya from a Guwahati-based teacher duo in tandem.
Nibedita’s dance career took an upturn after her marriage. She has performed in various prestigious programmes, functions, competitions and even judged dance shows. Her performances in Doordarshan (DD) Guwahati and DD Bharati NE Superstar are among the main. In NE Superstar she was invited as a special celebrity to Guwahati where she gave a performance on Bhupen Hazarika’s Bistirna Parorey. After this performance she got an instant offer from the producer and musician of NE Superstar for a career in Mumbai but backed out due to family compulsions. She had earlier declined an offer to act in an Assamese telefilm.
To bring out the CD she contacted Shantiniketan’s Rabindra Nritya Natya head of department Basanta Mukherjee and learnt the nuances of this form of dance, such as dresses, colour, ornaments, costumes and location. Mukherjee appreciated her zeal and answered all her queries. “He told me that lip-syncing is important for creating expression during dance whereas in Shantiniketan there is no use of ghungroo in Rabindra Nritya Natya. He also explained the meaning of the songs and where it should be ideally shot,” she said.
Shillong-based artiste Ramyajit Bhattacharjee arranged the music for the CD. Nibedita did the choreography, assisted by dancers Debasish Saha, Bikramjit Purkayastha, Shilpi Roy, Enakshi Sarkar, Rumita Sarkar, Madhushree Deb, Shreshta Deb, Jhumki Bhattacharjee and Dikshita Das. The child artistes in the CD are Nibedita’s daughters Rinita and Jismita, students of Loreto Convent, Akansha Biswas, Sumedha Choudhury and Debangdhi Chakraborty.
Saregama (Zee Bangla) finalist from Guwahati Sampa Basak and her sister Malabika Basak, Shiva Prasad Sanyal, a renowned teacher of Rabindra Sangeet lent their voices. Alakesh Chakraborty played the tabla and Nataraj Bhattacharjee the guitar while Sabdarupa Studio did the digital mixing. Editing was done by Asha Creation, Kolkata. “Pompa Deb, my well-wisher and Ramyajit Bhattacharjee encouraged me to bring out this CD that was shot at natural locales of Shillong and Guwahati,” Nibedita said.
She is presently doing a professional course from Rajeev Gandhi Computer Saksharta Mission, Shillong. She is a regular artist in DD Shillong and imparts free dance lessons to aspirants. Due to her stress on the innate qualities of Rabindra Nritya Natya, she has received an offer for empanelment as a registered artist in Indian Council for Cultural Relations, which has also offered to promote her in various national and international panels.