KARACHI: The Sound of Tinkling Bells, an evening of classical dance by Sheema Kermani, at the World Culture Festival Karachi-2024 at the Arts Council of Pakistan on Friday evening gave the audience a chance to watch various styles of classical dances practiced for centuries in the subcontinent.

The first of these, titled Aao Raqs Karo, based on feminist Urdu poet Fahmida Riaz poem symbolised women’s freedom and liberation. Sheema dedicated the dance to all feminists who have been struggling and fighting for their rights in our country. “It’s dedicated to our spirit of resilience,” she said.

So there she was in a black and gold Bharatanatyam sari dancing against the backdrop of pretty flower strings within the four red walls erected around her by society. Dancing made her happy, it made her think about freedom, which brought her hope. There was also anger in her heart which develops in her the strength to rebel and break free. And as she does that she also shows others how to follow in her footsteps.

The next performance was about feminine beauty and grace. The two poets there, Nazeer Akbarabadi and Bahadur Shah Zafar, were speaking about the power of beauty. “Within femininity there are also feminists. And strong women are beautiful,” said Sheema.

During the dance, the entire audience started clapping in sync with the taal or rhythm that Sheema’s dainty hennaed tapping feet with the ankle bells were creating. The appreciative audience brought tears to Sheema’s eyes. “For years this kind of dance was banned here. But we continued to dance,” she said with a lump forming in her throat.

The banning of classical dance reminded Sheema of her teacher Mr Ghanshyam. Paying rich tributes to him, Sheema said that he also taught her to be a good human being besides teaching her many dance forms. “He was himself a student of the great Uday Shankar, the brother of sitarist and composer Ravi Shankar,” she said.

The next dance was based on the poem ‘Ajao Africa’, penned by the great Faiz Ahmed Faiz, which is about resistance and liberation and standing up for one’s rights.

Artist, educator and writer Rumana Husain also came on the stage to say a few words about Sheema, who, she said, has kept the ankle bells tinkling all these years.

“Classical art forms from ancient times are painting, sculpture, architecture, music, theatre, literature and dance ... Harmony, idealism, proportion, restraint and balance in all these art forms are important elements, and above all these is beauty,” she said, sharing three inspirational dance quotes: ‘Dance to express, not to impress’, ‘Dance is the hidden language of the soul’ and ‘Life is better when you dance’.

Then celebration then moved to the mughal darbar where dance was used to impress kings with some interesting footwork, known as jugalbandi where the music and the dancer compete with each other. Now in a glittering white peshwas Sheema performed Kathak dance to Raag Darbari.

The evening concluded with some Sufi whirling on Hazrat Amir Khusrau’s qawwali ‘Aaj Rang Hai’.

Published in Dawn, October 13th, 2024