Indian film distributor Siraj Zaidi celebrated the 100th screening of Bollywood films in Dublin by producing an evening of Kathak dance, which developed in his childhood home of Lucknow. He began with extracts from two films about Kathak dancers, explaining that all Indian films must have dance sequences.
Then Shila Mehta appeared in Muslim dress, later wearing Hindu costume, to stress how Kathak derives from the fusion of Hindu and Muslim cultures under Mughal rule in the 16th to 18th centuries. A superb dancer, Mehta introduced each item, from the opening invocation to Vishnu and the Natawari Nritta (pure dance) which followed, its complex rhythmic patterns typical of this North Indian dance style, the spoken syllables added to the drumming.
A wonderfully educational evening for dance enthusiasts.