Devonshire Square is marking the UK-India Year of Culture with a sensorially engaging retrospective journey through Indian dancing styles, from contemporary Bollywood shows to some of the most ancient and symbolically charged Indian classical dances.
The festival – organised and curated by the Devonshire Square Events Team – has been recommended by Time Out London as one of the best-free-to-attend events taking place in the capital this summer.
The 7-week programme will showcase acts by some of the most talented dancers in the South Asian dance panorama presented by Akademi South Asian Dance, while the Bollywood themed opening show will be presented by Bollywood Co.
The UK-India Year of Culture represents a perfect opportunity to celebrate Devonshire Square’s rich and charming history which is strongly linked to India. The 4-acre campus – today a premium office and retail destination as well as an artistic hub – used to be a complex of warehouses back in 1820 where the most valuable goods imported from the Indian subcontinent, such as silk, ostrich feathers and spices used to be stored.
The dancers’ strikingly colourful and elaborated costumes will bring to life India’s precious textiles once stored in the Bengal Warehouse, evoked also by the festival’s title “Tales of Silk and Music”, creating a powerful metaphorical link between Devonshire Square’s past, as a warehouse, and present, as a culturally vibrant destination.
All shows will take place on Thursdays at 12.30pm in Devonshire Square’s historical Western Courtyard from 6th July till 17th August.
All performances are free attendance and registration is not required.
About Akademi:
Akademi is UK’s leading South Asian Dance Charity. Since its inception in 1979, its mission has been to inspire audiences and change lives by creating and nurturing excellence in classical, contemporary, popular and participatory South Asian dance. Akademi’s artists have performed in a number of prestigious venues worldwide and were recently invited to perform at the Buckingham Palace during a reception hosted by Her Majesty The Queen to mark the start of UK-India Year of Culture.
About Bollywood Co:
Bollywood Co is an authentic Bollywood dance company based at the world-renowned Pineapple Dance Studio, in central London. The company has produced Bollywood events for several high profile corporates such as Jet Airways, Warner Music, American Express and Net-a-Porter. Their crew of professional Bollywood dancers was featured in the musical Bend it Like Beckham, BBC’s The One Show and the movie Best Exotic Marigold Hotel.
Get involved
If you are an artist and would like to take part in any of the upcoming Devonshire Square’s festival of arts, please contact:
Patrizia Sechi
Community and Events Manager
We are very keen to work with talented performers, visionary visual artists and creatives.