Annapurna Indian Dance to perform at this year’s Huddersfield Literature Festival

Halifax based Annapurna Indian Dance will be performing Indian Tales of Love and Wisdom, a rich cultural evening of Indian dance, music and stories at this year’s Huddersfield Literature Festival.

The event, which will be taking place at Huddersfield’s Lawrence Batley Theatre on Thursday 31st March 2022, will see storytellers Indrani Datta and Sarvani Yadavalli explore nature, love and universality through the works of Nobel Laureate Rabindranath Tagore and Indian classical mythology.

Based in Halifax, Annapurna Indian Dance was founded by artistic director Shantha Rao based on a vision to connect communities through dance and sharing stories.

The company’s main dance form is drawn from an ancient classical style called Bharata Natyam, which is famous for its crisp rhythmic footwork and telling stories using stylised facial expressions and beautifully intricate hand gestures.

Established in 2006, The award-winning Huddersfield Literature Festival was launched to offer a diverse programme of author talks, workshops, discussion topics, performance poetry, multi-arts performances, wellbeing projects, events for young people and family-friendly events.

Festival Director Michelle Hodgson said: “We are thrilled to have the incredible Annapurna Indian dancers perform at this year’s festival - their performances are truly breathtaking and artistic director Shantha Rao has created a performance that perfectly blends literature and music - it really is an event not to be missed.”

The event is sponsored by Kirklees Year of Music in 2023, a unique, place-based, transformational cultural change programme that strengthens the music ecology of Kirklees from its roots, including education, health & wellbeing, the night-time economy, music tourism, aspiration & skills, and inclusion, with a view to tackling poverty, reducing inequalities and inequity and developing an inclusive economy.

Book tickets for Indian Tales of Love and Wisdom here: https://www.huddlitfest.org.uk/event/indian-tales-of-love-and-wisdom/