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TORONTO, CANADA, March 25, 2004: A lot can happen in 100 years to a dance tradition. That’s why only half of A Century Of Indian Dance is being presented at the seventh Kala Nidhi International Dance Festival and Conference this year. The festival opened Tuesday at the Harbourfront Centre for six days of discussion, demonstrations and performances, delving into 20th-century Kathak, Kathakali, Manipuri and the dance style established by Indian poet Rabindranath Tagore. The second part of the festival is scheduled for 2005 and will cover Bharatanatyam, Odissi, Kuchupudi and martial arts dance.



Producer Sudha Thakkar Khandwani’s manifesto states her desire to bring Indian dancers to the diaspora and to show how non-Indian dance has altered classic forms from the subcontinent. Evenings are devoted to performances by dancers from India, Canada, France and the U.S. The next day the dancers take part in discussions about history and developing trends. Notable lyric poets and Indian dance gurus are also getting their due in these sessions.



Tuesday’s opening performance from India’s Maulik Shah and Ishira Parikh was a lesson in the streamlining and innovation that has modernized Kathak, a classical style from the north of India. Kathak means “to tell a story” and the dance merges Hindu and Muslim elements in an elegant, very upright technique that puts a lot of emphasis on rapid, rhythmic footwork. The Gujurati couple’s restrained but beautifully coordinated opening duet demonstrated “pure Kathak,” but the music was distinctly contemporary. Modestly clothed, their torsos completely still, they executed slow, circular arm movements, while their feet and ankle bells marked staccato rhythms. A subtle narrative was provided in minimalist metal frameworks, one suggesting a bridge, the other a house. The stately pair might have been engaged in a long courtship.



Edmonton-based Usha Gupta choreographed Navarasa — Nine Moods Of A Human Being, “in the Kathak style” for the Brian Webb Dance Company. The music fuses traditional tabla and song with guitar, mandolin, keyboard and violin. The composition spoke more to a non-Indian dance audience than traditional Indian music might have, and Parikh’s expressive storytelling lent drama to a range of moods from love to anger to tranquility.



Sukalyan Bhattacharya Entourage from Toronto had a truly difficult act to follow, but changed the format with Bhattacharya’s vigorous solos accompanied by an all-ages ensemble of female dancers in flowing saris. The Kala Nidhi festival continues through Sunday, when the renowned New Delhi dancer/choreographer Aditi Mangaldas brings her Footprints On Water to the Premiere Dance Theatre.

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