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IN CONVERSATION

"Dance is a rhythmic expression of emotions" - Pooja Sengupta

Zahangir Alom
Classical dancer and television presenter Srimonti Pooja Sengupta began learning Bharatnatyam in 1989 under the tutelage of noted dancer Shukla Sarkar. Pooja performed her Arengatram (convocation) in 2000. However, she continued taking lessons from her guru till 2011.
Born in a culture-oriented family, Pooja went to dance school in her childhood. Her parents, noted actor Manoj Sengupta and Nandita Sarkar keenly supported her all the way. "My mother was a singer, though she did not take music as her career. She had perceptions of my creative faculty and she offered me a choice of music, dance, painting and acting as my co-curricular activities in my childhood. I chose dance as 1 loved it and would dance from one room to another," says the artiste.
"I am grateful to my guru who gave me the opportunity to perform solos at state-level programmes at an early age, even though I was too young for that. From then, receiving appreciation and inspiration from audience, friends and family turned into an addiction that led me here. Choreographed by my guru, I also performed two lead roles - Kurupa and Prakriti in two Tagore dance dramas - 'Chitrangada' and 'Chandalika' respectively,” she adds.
Besides dance, Pooja completed BS (Honours) and MS in Physics from Dhaka University. But her passion for dance surpasses all. "It is my passion for dance that helped me become the first Bangladeshi student to receive an ICCR scholarship to study Bharatanatyam at Masters Level at Rabindra Bharati University without Honours in the dance form," said the artiste. "What distinguishes Bharatarnatyam from other
classical dance forms is its geometric posture and rigidness which comes along with the expression of grace,” interprets Pooja.
"Dance is a rhythmic expression of emotions. From the flow of a fountain and the tossing of leaves to the throwing hand gesture of a newborn - all connote the language of dance," asserts Pooja.
Pooja is currently receiving training from her guru Sujatha Ramalingam of Kalakshetra, Chennai, India. Alongside dancing, Pooja also does choreography for new productions. She loves to perform. "My ultimate dream is to form my own dance troupe. It's an expensive idea. A company will have dancers-choreographers and studios where we can work to bring innovations," hopes Pooja.
She has presented her arts at many prestigious platforms both at home and abroad. "My recent project zooms in on an IndoBangladesh collaborative bilingual dance production titled "Waterness: Jolebash", featuring the metaphor of the fluid essence of womanhood and the liquidity of water. My dance company 'Turongomi Repertory of Dance' is producing it while Turongomi artistes, guest artiste Rachel Perris and I'll perform in it," says the artiste.
"Many women including Kadambari Devi, Mrinalini Devi, Indira Devi had imprinted Tagore's hearts with bliss and we're trying to capture the abstruse psychological aspects of Tagore and his diverse yet unique relations with women. We are also trying to contemporise the production and devotion in our own aspects based on neutrality," she adds.
"UK -based Bangladeshi dancer Akram Khan is my idol. He is the best dancerchoreographer of present times. I would like to draw inspiration from South-east Asian literary, cultural and artistic essence and will try to depict those in my upcoming dance choreography," says the artiste.
Apart from dancing, Pooja is a dance researcher who has conducted research on Bagainya Nach of Srimangal, Moulvibazar. The artiste wants to represent extinct yet opulent folk dance forms of Bangladesh to the greater audience. She also dreams of choreographing for films. Pooja was one of the 125 dancers of six countries of the world who all together set a Guinness World Record, dancing 25 hours at a stretch. Anchoring is a parallel field of interest for the artiste, and she has so far hosted prestigious events including IPL Power Play, Channel's anniversary events, Eid special and live musical shows on different channels.