Indian Dance Festival

Iconic London Estate, Devonshire Square is marking the UK-India Year of Culture with “Tales of Silk and Music”, a six week long Indian Dance Festival. Featuring London’s leading performers, the festival will provide a retrospective journey through Indian dance styles, from the most ancient and symbolic through to contemporary Bollywood.

The UK-India Year of Culture represents a perfect opportunity to celebrate Devonshire Square's origins as the 18th century warehouse complex of the East India Company. The dancers’ colourful and elaborate costumes will evoke the precious textiles once stored in the site’s Bengal warehouse, creating a powerful metaphorical link between the estate’s past and present status as a culturally vibrant business and leisure destination.
Performances will be courtesy of Akademi, the UK’s leading South Asian Dance Charity which was founded in 1979 to promote the understanding of South Asian Dance in Britain. The programme is jointly curated by the Bollywood Co. a team of professionals based the world-renowned Pineapple Dance Studio.

Event highlights include:
• 6 July - “Rainbows in Motion” a spectacular and uplifting Indian dance performance by Bollywood Co - the talented artists will present a fusion of modern and classical Indian dance, using a mix of East and West beats to represent the cultural link between the two countries.

• 13 July - a mesmerizing Odissi dance performance by professional dancers Maryam Shakiba and Katrina Rute. Odissi is a major ancient Indian classical dance from East India involves footwork, torso and upper body movements (hand and head).

• 27 July - an energetic Dandiya Raas dance performance by Dancenbeats. Dandiya Raas is the traditional folk dance form of Gujarat and Rajasthan, in Western India. Men and women dance in two circles, holding sticks (representing swords of the goddess Durga) and moving vigorously in complicated, choreographed steps.

• 3 August - solo by professional dancer Debanjali Biswas. Manipuri dance is one of the major Indian classical dance styles and known for its love-inspired dance drama of Radha-Krishna, called Raslila. The performance is characterised by graceful, fluid and sinuous movements, focusing on upper body gestures.

Adding to the Indian-themed festival atmosphere, Cinnamon Kitchen will be hosting a Summer Pavilion and Bombay Sapphire Gin Garden throughout the event. Featuring a bespoke gin bar, luxury gazebos and an inventive Indian-inspired menu, this will be a perfect spot to relax pre and post-performance.

The festival is free to attend and registration is not required.