“It’s actually creating a whole new environment for the dance form to thrive,” she says. “The Kathak dancer has a few segments that may be choregraphed as set pieces, but the rest of it is all about interplay with the musicians and by reading the room.”

This event features a 45-minute workshop followed by a performance from acclaimed Kathak dancer Puneet Singh.

Rhythmic footwork

Before moving to Canada in 2003, Buddhdev worked in London’s arts and culture scene; her past projects include curating South Asian music and dance programs at the English capital’s Southbank Centre. After observing the segmentation of cultures in Vancouver, she created The BANDISH Network – a Facebook group providing resources to support local artists.

“Generally, in Canada, when cultural groups are doing magnificent work, it’s a real shame that there’s no access to that work for the wider audience,” she explains. “Because they are doing it in limited capacity…they are not getting the support they need.”

Buddhdev came upon the opportunity to curate a program for B.C.’s 2015 Culture Days, resulting in the creation of the Traditional India Series. Previous editions have focused on other cultural and art practices, including textiles and music. While she sees these practices as interrelated, the series provides space to deeply engage with a particular art form and the artists that practice it.

“[Kathak] is rhythmic in nature, so it starts off in different speeds,” she shares. “You tap at a slow speed; then, as the rhythm increases, you increase the speed of your foot tapping, so you can compare it to flamenco.”

The curator used to learn Kathak in university; she then returned to the dance form three years ago, eventually participating in practice sessions with friends in her basement.

“It’s an energy-based art form; it’s not something that you would read, prepare a script and reread in the performance,” she shares. “It’s about tuning in, and that is when the audience members actually feel that connection because it’s an exchange of frequencies on an energetic level.”

Stories for the community

The upcoming performance will also highlight the Lucknow Gharana tradition of storytelling – with Buddhdev as the narrator. She sees this tradition as an “integrated” model, an interplay between dancers, musicians, audience and narrator.

“The script that you read in a book, so to speak, is the dancer,” she explains. “The page is the platform; the bind that actually puts the book together is the audience and the musician.”

Buddhdev describes her narrator role as a “metronome,” turning the pages to maintain the correct tempo for the story. She plans to share poems in Sanskrit as the dancers mime the narration. TATKAAR’s performer, Puneet Singh, received training through the Lucknow Gharana school of Kathak.

“He’s a direct disciple of Guru Mahua Shankar, who is a disciple of the Pandit Birju Maharaj, who was the pioneer of Kathak in the western world,” she adds, noting they met through her network. “[Singh’s] come down through a lineage that is extremely revered and really precious.”

Buddhdev plans to bridge different Kathak traditions together in a future performance, encouraging further dialogues amongst artists and communities. For her, TATKAAR’s collaboration with the Evergreen Centre is an example of the partnerships necessary to create a thriving, diverse arts community.

“Our audience want to see cultural arts in its authenticity, and when you give them that, they know it,” she adds. “They feel it because it takes them to another place in the world.”

Buddhdev defines authenticity as an artist performing at their highest level. She hopes to see more partnerships with other community venues, including those in Maple Ridge, the Fraser Valley and North Vancouver. Bringing art to the community is Buddhdev’s goal – particularly as the dancers are more than ready.

Presented in partnership with Vancouver Asian Heritage Month Society, this free event will also feature music from sitar player, Gurjit Sikri, as well as tabla and pakhawaj player, Hriday Buddhdev. Nina Buddhdev is curating a similar Kathak event June 15 at The Dance Centre.

For more information, see:  www.evergreenculturalcentre.ca/events/tatkaar