Fifa Chakma, a well-known, trained classical dancer, has a name that sounds like it has something to do with football. The name is not an accident. Her family had a television when few others in Rangamati did, and when she was born, her uncle was watching Maradona play Argentina's first World Cup match in 1990. He named her after the governing body!
The name does not prepare you for the dance training that comes with it — an ICCR scholarship, a prestigious scholarship awarded by the Indian Council for Cultural Relations; a BA and MA in Kathak from Rabindra Bharati University in Kolkata; and nine years of teaching at Bangladesh Shilpakala Academy and Tapassya Dance Academy, which she founded to teach classical dance alongside indigenous dance forms.
That training started early, at three, and nobody suggested it to her.
Her aunt was her first teacher and lived close enough that Fifa could hear her anklets from home. She watched the practice through the window before she ever set foot in a class.
"The sound of the anklets pulled me towards it," she says.
Her mother taught at Banorupa Primary School in Rangamati, and the school's annual cultural programme gave Fifa her first real audience. From there she trained under several prominent gurus, building towards Kolkata.
Behind that early training was her father, who needed no persuading. He played Rabindra Sangeet every morning.
"I think that is where it began," she says. "The pull towards culture."
He came to all her shows, tied her anklets before she went on stage, and made her stage props by hand. Relatives objected once she reached high school; her parents never moved on the matter.
He died 15 days before she received her ICCR scholarship.
Fifa considers her husband, Arpon Chakma, and their son, Rhodo Advik Chakma, to be her primary supporters, in addition to her parents.
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Shibli Mohammad, the noted dance guru, had taught her Kathak for two years, though her intermediate studies kept her irregular. The ICCR scholarship took her to Rabindra Bharati in 2009.
"That is where I learnt it properly," she says.
Understanding what she had done took her longer. Recognition led to students: young dancers from the Tripura and Marma communities began training after seeing her perform. She considers that the better outcome.
Fifa's own institute, Tapassya Dance Academy, teaches Kathak and indigenous dances while conducting research. Fifa tries to focus more on indigenous communities in Mymensingh and Rajshahi that mainstream culture ignores.
Some of these forms are nearly extinct due to a lack of support. She worked with the Turi community at Moulvibazar's Shilpakala Art Camp.
The Ministry of Cultural Affairs selected her for performances in London and the Philippines, where the repertoire must adhere to ministry guidelines while also representing the country.
"I would always prefer to showcase my own culture over a Western dance," she explains.
She listens to a song several times to see if it will hold the choreography, then settles on the costume before building the movement and mapping the sequence. The lot is governed by maintaining the traditions of each community. She checks the stage size and how far back the audience will sit, as distance determines how heavy the makeup is applied, and then fixes the sound.
"It is extremely tedious," she says.
Her favourite performance occurred in the first year of her master's programme, when Rabindra Bharati assigned her to Maharaja Sayajirao University of Baroda. She did not make the initial cut but was accepted as a foreign student.
Rajendra Gangani, the Indian Kathak dancer, served as the judge. Narendra Modi, Gujarat's then-chief minister, sat in the audience.
She opened with a Ganesh vandana and moved into Kathak footwork, and the hall began clapping and whistling, which was the highlight for her. Thirteen minutes later, she closed on a thumri. Before the results, an organiser told her she owed them sweets.
"I was on cloud nine," she says.
Once, she stumbled during a Tripura bottle dance at the Dhaka International Folk Festival and carried on without breaking the piece.
"Some things will not be in your control," she says. "Conditions will not always be favourable."
She has never taken criticism badly, right or wrong, and says dancers should thank the ones who give it.
Today, Fifa Chakma's journey stretches far beyond the stage. Through performance, teaching, and research, she is ensuring that classical dance and Bangladesh's indigenous traditions continue to inspire the next generation.
Photo: Courtesy
