Tamasha
Theatre Company & The Lyric Hammersmith
Present:
Strictly
Dandia
The
Lowry, Salford Quays, Greater Manchester - Tue
15–Sat 19 Feb 2005
Written
by Tamasha’s Artistic Directors Sudha Bhuchar
and Kristine Landon-Smith Strictly Dandia features
fast and funky dance routines by award winning
choreographer Liam Steel of DV8 and music by
Shri (Shrikanth Sriram) of Outcaste Records
and the recording duo Badmarsh and Shri. Strictly
Dandia marks Steel’s first collaboration
with an Asian theatre company and Shri’s
first composition for a theatre production.
The
cast includes Karen David, the Indian born singer
and actress who has had top 20 hits in Germany
and is currently in MTV’s Topbuzzer and the
British Film Take Three Girl. She plays opposite
Wayne Perrey well known as Detective Parvez Lateef
in Dalziel and Pascoe who will be on our screens
again at the beginning of February.
Strictly
Dandia is set during the Hindu festival of Navratri
(a festival that leads up to Diwali in honour
of the Trinity of God as worshipped in the female
form). The celebrations involve lots of dancing
and are an ideal opportunity for young people
to meet each other.
Outside
revellers queue in the freezing cold, inside things
are hotting up. Crowds flock from all over London
to strut their stuff on the dance floor at the
event of the year. On the look out for love, and
with the trophy in their sights, the dancers compete
for the eye of the judges. On a night that could
change their lives forever, divisions are rife
and allegiances are challenged when an outsider
dances his way into the heart of the most eligible
girl.
Set
during a fictitious dance competition, young men
and women take to the dance floor, under the watchful
eye of the older generation, in a bid to find
the “right” partner and for one lucky
couple, the title of Diwali King and Queen. The
show looks at the challenges faced by young Hindus
in Britain today as they struggle with their parent's
aspirations for them and their own ambitions.
Tamasha
bring a light hearted, popularist approach to
this timeless story of star-crossed lovers, and
explore a booming Asian culture in Britain. Full
of fast moving dance and colourful costumes this
is a contemporary love story and a sparkling evening
of entertainment.
Strictly
Dandia is directed by Kristine Landon-Smith, the
designer is Sue Mayes, with choreography by Liam
Steel and music composition by Shri (Shrikanth
Sriram).
Tamasha
Theatre Company has long been the springboard
for Asian actors now well known in the mainstream.
From Ronny Jhutti, a school boy when he appeared
in Untouchable in 1998, now a serious film maker,
to Parminder Nagra, spotted by Gurinder Chadha
in their award-winning Bollywood musical, Fourteen
Songs, Two Weddings and A Funeral who went from
Bend it Like Beckham to Los Angeles to take up
a regular role in ER. Nina Wadia, Archie Punjabi
and Sunetra Sarker all began their careers with
Tamasha, and East is East, which was nominated
for an Olivier Award, was the launch of Ayub Khan
Din’s career as a screen writer and rocketed
Jimmy Mistri, Chris Bisson and Emil Marwa to international
stardom.
“A
fabulous fusion of hip hop, kathakali, breakdance,
tango, disco, salsa, waltz and more” Total
Theatre
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