By Prisca Sam-Duru & Vera Anyagafu

Somehow, India is synonymous with colours and beauty but this time around as witnessed by culture lovers and promoters last Sunday at Mptuscon Centre, Lagos, they are endowed with much more.

•Kathak dance

The ability of the Kathak dancers who entertained guests during a drama dance event in which they infused folklores into contemporary dance, was highly commendable.

Kathak is one of the major forms of Indian classical dance and it held courtesy of the Indian High Commission, Nigeria in collaboration with the Indian Cultural Association.

The origin of Kathak is traditionally attributed to the traveling bards of ancient Northern India known as Kathakars or storytellers. The term Kathak is derived from the Vedic Sanskrit word Katha which means “story”, and Kathaka which means “he who tells a story”, or “to do with stories”. Wandering Kathakas communicated stories from the great epics and ancient mythology through dance, songs and music in a manner similar to early Greek theatre.

Putting all this together with the accompanying display of colorful attires during the classic performance is usually amazing.

The need to further strengthen India-Nigeria cultural exchanges according to the India High Commissioner to Nigeria,  His Excellency, Mr. B.N.Reddy necessitated the Dance in Nigeria.

Reddy expressed the need to frequently engage Nigeria and Indian in a mutually benefiting cultural exchanges and much more.

According to him, India is very active in efforts to share many of her historical cultural endowment with Nigeria and Kathak is not an exclusion.

“We are deep in promoting our cultural heritage with the government and people of Nigeria. Indian Cultural Association in Nigeria is an indication of our rooted interest in the cultural ties that the two countries share.”

Speaking also, the President, Indian Cultural Association, Chief Sanjay Jain, disclosed that the Kathak Dance performance is one of the major forms of Indian classical dance noting that it is customary for the “Indian Council for Cultural Relations to send the cultural troupes to various countries for promoting the country’s art and culture. This year, in collaboration with Indian High Commission, Nigeria and Indian Cultural Association, they have sent a group of KATHAK DANCERS to Nigeria.”

He explained that the dance group consists of 6 members led by Ms. Surabhi Singh adding that Singh is a very famous and popular Kathak dancer who has presented over 5,000 performances in India and all over the world. Her famous performances include – Aaj Ki Draupadi, Sundarkand Kathak Dance Ballet, Madhushala Dance Ballet, Devanand Night Dance Ballet, and others.

In continuation, Sajay, added that aside cultural promotion, India Cultural Association is also, actively involved in undertaking charitable projects for the needy in Nigeria.