The UK-India Year of Culture has seen participants from different disciplines. A Kathak Dancer and the British Army are two unlikely companions.
Vidya Patel is a Kathak Dancer from Birmingham. She represented the South Asian Category in the Grand Finals of competition BBC Young Dancer 2015 at Sadler’s Wells. Vidya will be seen performing western contemporary choreography in The Troth. Vidya’s movements are informed by her strong foundational training in Kathak.
Vidya is playing the female lead, Lila, in Akademi's upcoming production- ‘The Troth- Usne Kaha Tha’ choreographed by Gary Clarke that is due to tour India and the UK from January to March 2018, as part of the UK-India Year of Culture.
“The Troth” has its world premiere in Jaipur on 26 January 2018 and its UK premiere at Curve, Leicester on 21 February.
The show uses archive and new silent film footage, an evocative soundscore and powerful dance to tell a 100-year- old Hindi short story from World War I. It is based on Chandradhar Sharma Guleri’s story, Usne Kaha Tha, which is considered to be the first Hindi short story.
About Vidya and her Kathak training
Vidya Patel defines Kathak as a North Indian classical art form which has mathematical compositions translated by the rhythmic slapping of the feet, intricate nuances of gestures and expression, fluid upper body movements and sharp pirouettes.
She explains, “Kathak is a North Indian classical dance form derived from the Sanskrit word ‘Katha’ which means story. Traditionally the art form was used by Kathakaars who would travel and use the art form to tell and share stories. When the Mughals invaded India the form was performed with great grandeur to the emperors and this is when the finesse and technique of the form developed further.”
How Kathak differs from other Indian dance forms
“Kathak has improvisation within the art form. It is known that senior artists and Kathak legends would improvise with the ‘tabla’ players and decide what different Kathak compositions they want to perform. This not only creates
suspense and excitement for the performer and musician but amongst the audience too. This improvisation can only be done when a deeper and greater understanding of the art form has been learnt.”
How Vidya got her passion for Kathak
“When I was younger my parents enrolled me in the local Kathak classes. I would watch different artists visiting Birmingham. I was in awe of the beauty of it as well as the power needed to deliver the form. I was equally fascinated by other classical dance styles too, such as Bharatnatyam which was the first Indian classical dance form I was introduced to. I still enjoy watching them. My parents would always take my sisters and I to watch different dance
performances. A lot of passion stemmed from my parents’ interests. They wanted us to feel connected to Indian culture and found dance to be the best way to inform us of our heritage.
Vidya is still part of a rare breed in the UK, doing Kathak professionally full time.
She gives us her reasons. “There’s been many factors that encouraged me to take dance as a full time freelancer. Auditioning and being selected to be part of the Centre of Advanced Dance Training South Asian Strand at Birmingham DanceXchange played a part in my training. I joined in the pilot year 2008 and graduated in 2014. This was where I was introduced to my current Guruji- Sujata Banerjee who was my Kathak subject tutor at CADT. Her approach to teaching and creativity found inspirational, and started travelling to London regularly to learn from her after graduating from the programme. During my early trips to London my father would drive me down weekly straight from school and we’d return close to midnight. This is only one example, but I know it would’ve been tremendously hard without this.
Dance is something I enjoy, watching, doing and being part of -if I wasn’t connected to it in some way I know I would feel like I’m missing out on something great!”
How Vidya Patel plans to use Kathak in future.
“I would like more young people who are training in the art form to take it up professionally but also provide more opportunities through future work for those who do take it up as a profession. The complexity of the art form is so rich
I hope to create and perform work which is part of the larger dance industry.”
