KARACHI: Classical dancer, social activist and founder of the cultural action group Tehrik-e-Niswan, Sheema Kermani has organised a debut for her young disciple Anjaleen Maryam Agrawalla at the Alliance Française.

Anjaleen was six years old when she came to train under Kermani. During this time she learned various classical dance forms such as the Bharatanatyam, Odissi and Kathak as she also joined Tehrik-i-Niswan and performed in their numerous events and festivals.

As explained by her guru Kermani, a student dancer’s solo stage dance debut performance after completion of years of training is called an ‘arangetram’. It is organised by the guru to introduce the disciple to the audience while giving blessings.

Sheema Kermani laments performing arts are dying in country

As she took the audience through the programme on Friday evening, Kermani also shared memories of her own journey in classical dance. She said that she started teaching classical dance for free some 40 years ago in her mother’s car garage.

“I had many students in the beginning. But now, as time goes by, I have less and less students and I often wonder why people here are so biased and narrow-minded in arts? Why don’t they celebrate diversity? Why don’t they celebrate pluralism,” she asked.

She said that she herself started learning classical dance as a young girl when her mother found Mr and Mrs Ghanshyam, a couple from Calcutta, who had set up an institute for the teaching of dance and music in Karachi.

“In the 1960s, they had hundreds of students but then they were forced to leave Pakistan during Ziaul Haq’s rule. Sadly, not many have been able to make dance their profession in this country. I have been lucky to make a living out of it,” she said.

“The performing arts are dying in this country. Dance and music are usually passed down through the generations. But today even my sitar player, an ustad, prefers that his son work in a hotel,” she said.

The young debutant dancer Anjaleen then took to the stage holding flowers in her hands. She performed three salutations, to God, to her guruand her audience while also asking forgiveness of Mother Earth for stamping on it as she danced the Pushpanjali.

Her performance consisted of Bharatanatyam dances, an ancient form of classical dance of the subcontinent using hand gestures and facial expressions.

She performed seven dances including Alarippu, a dance based on rhythm that relaxes the mind and body for upcoming dances, the Jatiswaram, an abstract dance concentrating on the melody alone, the Shabdam, a dance to a song, the Varnam, the main dance of the entire Bharatanatyam performance, the Abhinaya, an intense dance, and the Tillana, a lively joyful dance.

Published in Dawn, December 19th, 2021