The 2007 Trafalgar Square Festival which starts today has taken its inspiration from the Mayor of London’s India Now season, with three weeks of breathtaking outdoor dance, theatre and spectacle, designed to illustrate the creative connections between London and India.
From Thursday 2 August there will be a three week programme of free events featuring new collaborations and pioneering outdoor commissions from London based, Indian and other international companies. Organisers describe it as “a key event in the three-month India Now season”.
Festival highlights include Dreaming Now, an entrancing dance extravaganza combining ballet with Bharatanatyam from Akademi South Asian Dance UK and Shiva Dance, a newly commissioned, poetic, aerial dance piece directed by Vena Ramphal inspired by sacred geometry and evoking the Chola bronze sculptures of Southern India.
Juggernaut – Tara in the Sky! a new outdoor performance from Tara Arts, one of the UK’s leading South Asian theatre companies, will create a powerful theatrical ritual celebrating the relationship between London and India, with a spectacle of dance and music soaring into the sky.
In the final week of the festival, Namastey Trafalgar Square, a specially commissioned Bollywood spectacle will see a giant canvas painted live by Mumbai poster painters, who will re-imagine London as an Indian city at the foot of Nelson’s Column.
Announcing the festival line-up Mayor of London Ken Livingstone said the capital was “proud to be hosting India Now, a citywide season celebrating the riches of this diverse and dazzling culture.”
“The sixth Trafalgar Square Festival is very much a highlight and guarantees to be nothing short of spectacular. This year’s programme reflects and celebrates the distinctive Indian culture through dance, theatre, music and visual art offering a fantastic way to spend summer evenings, for Londoners and the capital’s visitors alike.”
