The Times, London
LONDON, U.K., September 23, 2003: The ancient Indian tradition of Kathak is bringing myth and a magical glow to British stages. Nobody knows the exact origins of kathak dance. Nurtured in the Hindu temples and village squares of northern India, it was performed by an itinerant community of storytellers. Their subjects were epic mythological and moral tales, usually with a devotional slant. During the period of Muslim, dancers imported from Persia fell in love with kathak, helping to secularize it and carry it into the royal courts. The ensuing patronage of kings and emperors both freed and polished it into a sophisticated art, notable for its lightning-fast pirouettes, stamping feet and statuesque poses. Birmingham-based choreographer Nahid Siddiqui is one of Britain’s best kathak practitioners. “The most natural of all the Indian dance forms,” she calls it, “and the one with the greatest similarity to ballet. Dancing it, one is grounded and elevated at the same time.” When Siddiqui performs, says David Bintley, Birmingham Royal Ballet’s artistic director, “an extraordinary light goes on inside her.” On September 24, 2003, audiences at the Birmingham Hippodrome BRB presented the world premiere of Krishna, Siddiqui’s one-act retelling of the Hindu God’s life through a rare blend of the kathak and ballet genres. Siddiqui is using about half of the 60 ballet dancers Bintley generously put at her disposal.