Adventures in Odissi and Kathak – Darbar Festival

The second and final evening of the Akram kKhan curated dance programme of Darbar Festival 2018 combines two classical Indian dance forms of Odissi and Kathak, as two exceptional female dancers demonstrate their art-forms in two solo performances, followed by a very special duet.

Winner of the 2017 Sangeet Natak Akademi award for outstanding contribution to odissi and ‘Indian dance royalty’ (Financial Times) Sujata Mohapatra performs a beautifully crafted work that treads the line between Odissi dance and theatre.

The multi award-winning katahk dancer Gauri Diwakar performs Hari Ho.Gati meri (Let my salvation be in the supreme), a sublime solo in four parts inspired by the words of four Muslim poets each taking Krishna as their subject.

The piece has been specially choreographed for Gauri by Aditi Mangaldas, who ‘owned the stage without trying to earn it’ (The Guardian) when performing as part of the 2017 Darbar Festival at Sadler’s Wells.