Pooja Sengupta

Turongomi artistic director Pooja Sengupta, also a member of the International Dance Council of UNESCO, said that the Covid situation has been causing a gradual reduction in stage shows forcing dance troupes to count huge loss.

‘Dance troupes rely on stage shows to earn a living. When creating a new dance production, dance troupes cannot afford to be stingy. We have to spend a lot of money to ensure the quality of a dance production. We premiered our production Ho Chi Minh in September 2019 and could only stage three shows until the first Covid cases were detected in Bangladesh in 2020. Afterwards, the public venues were shut down and all our shows were cancelled,’ Pooja Sengupta told New Age.

‘We suffered huge revenue losses due to the Covid-19 crisis. We could stage only one show of our old production Anamika Sagarkanya and a new production named Adamya during the Covid-19 outbreak. We have not staged our popular production Waterness after March 2020. The Covid situation is the bane of stage shows as it is difficult to arrange programmes at public venues following Covid health requirements. Therefore, the numbers of stage shows have been gradually declining. Dance troupes are turning to online platforms and Turongomi is no exception,’ Pooja added.

Turongomi recently staged its new production Adamya at the National Parade Ground during the ten-day celebration marking the golden jubilee of the country’s independence and the birth centenary of the country’s founding president Sheikh Mujibur Rahman. The dance production was aired on Bangladesh Television.

‘I had to read different books including Asampata Atmajibani, Karagarer Rojnamcha along with some supporting books namely Behat Biplab, the autobiography of Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto and others. I visited Sheikh Mujibur Rahman’s residence at Dhanmondi 32. I worked on the production for about one year. I preferred books written by Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman to documentaries made on him. Many documentaries focused on praising Bangabandhu instead of providing information,’ said Pooja.

‘Our team members also read those books, which helped them to portray different characters. Though many people already saw the production on TV, we have a plan to redesign the production for stage,’ she added.

Pooja also spoke about her upcoming project.

‘We are celebrating the golden jubilee of the country’s independence. I will try to portray the history of independence in our upcoming production. I am now reading history books to gather inspiration,’ mentioned Pooja, who also urged all to follow health guidelines.

‘I urge all to follow Covid-19 health guidelines and not to go outside unless it is an emergency. We can defeat the virus if we work together,’ she ended.