The New Nation - Internet Edition

Sheikh Arif Bulbon

'Lathikhela' is a skilled theatre and travelling art form. It is also one kind of circus. Common folks of the villages organise the game on various occasions such as the Bengali New Year and the new harvesting festivals, etc. There was a time when this was prevalent throughout Bangladesh. But the practice of the art has gradually trimmed as time passed by.

Now this show can only be seen in Manikganj, Joypurhat, Narail, Srimangal, Kishoreganj, Mymensingh, Netrokona, Kushtia, Jhenaidah and just a few other regions. In the Lathikhela shows of Manikganj, sometimes singing and dancing is also presented.

The Indian High Commission in Dhaka in cooperation with Shadhona, a centre working for the advancement of South Asian music and dance, organised a performance of 'Lathikhela' at Bakultola of the Institute of Fine Arts (Charukala) of Dhaka University. It was an open-air function. The event began at 11:00AM and ended at 12:15PM.

Country's noted dance artiste Lubna Mariam, also general secretary of Shadhona, moderated the show. Eminent litterateur Syed Shamsul Haque, recitation artiste Bhaswar Bondopaddhya, writer Dr Anwara Syed Haque, among others, were present at the event.

A large number of people including children gathered at the spot and enjoyed the event amid fanfair.

The event was a result of joint workshop on 'Rayebeshe-martial art dance.' The workshop was organised at the Dance and Music Training Centre of the Indian High Commission in Dhanmondi in the city recently. Two eminent Indian bamboo dance artistes Tarun Pradhan and Sutapa Pradhan conducted the workshop.

'Rayebeshe' is a folk dance popular, especially in Medinipur district in West Bengal in India, and similar to 'Lathikhela' folk dance in Bangladesh. Artistes from Sirajganj, Manikganj, Kushtia, Jhenidah and Dhaka participated in the joint workshop.

In 'Lathikhela,' a number of stick players form a group. This group enter the village loudly announcing their arrival, sometimes singing. On hearing this, the villagers come out of their houses. Sometimes even people from surrounding villages will run off to see the show. There is a lot of satire in this and usually some comedians get big laughs. In between the jokes and the fights there are some fairly 'masculine' dances.

Noted folk researcher Simon Zakaria in his research mentioned, "Generally during the 'Lathikhela,' the method of attack is quite artificial-- after all, no one is really trying to hurt anyone. They attack each other for a while, then take a break to dance for a while, then go back to attacking. The whole affair is rather stylised. The dance performances actually punctuate the changes in technique, so after a dance is over, the fighters switch over to a different style of fighting. In the Kushtia-Jhenidah region, the fights were based on various stories about war or robbers. Nowadays these story-based shows are just about gone."