As part of Hawkesbury’s ‘festival Petits bonheurs’, Geoffrey Dollar (31) and Sanvi Purohit (17) performed ‘Kathak classical Indian dance’ [wiki here] on Saturday, May 16, at Le Chenail Cultural Centre. According to Geoffrey, “Katha originated from Northern India, and refers to the storytelling aspect of the ancient artform, whose roots can be traced to 400BC”. Both Geoffrey and Sanvi are currently disciples of Guru Anjali Patil [biography here], the Founder and Artistic Director of Aroha Fine Arts [homepage here].

…apparently there are eight major forms [wiki here] of ‘classical Indian dance’ recognized by the Indian Government — Bharatanatyam, Kathakali, Kuchipudi, Odissi, Manipuri, Mohiniyattam, Sattriya, and Kathak. Kathak comes from the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh, which is next to Nepal, and is India’s most populace State.

Maybe it’s because Canada does not have a 2000- or 3000-year history, but we have no ‘State recognized’ dances. However, Indigenous Canadians have hundreds of unique cultural dances that are either still performed today, or making a comeback as they regain their cultural identities, with histories that go back thousands and thousands of years [about Indigenous-Canadian dance here]. European settlers brought their own Jigs, Step Dancing, Square Dancing to the ‘New World’ [about dance in Canada here]. Now, because of the past 75-years of migration and immigration and cultural diversity being integrated into this country, ‘Canadian Dance’ includes every form of dance from around the Globe [10 things aboot Canada}.

…unlike a certain more ‘Southerly’ country, Canada is not a ‘melting pot’, we thrive on and celebrate Multiculturalism, and diversity of culture and the arts. In that way, we’re kind of Ren McCormack to their Reverend Shaw Moore [Kenny Loggins video here].

As part of Hawkesbury’s ‘Centre Culturel Le Chenail Cultural Centre’ [their homepage here] summer program they’re bringing several one-day Festivals to their Gallery for small groups to enjoy.

…anyway, no matter how old your culture is, I hope there’s some dancing involved. To see the photos, just click on the first one to get the carousel going — comments are always welcome.