Delhi slum artists displayed acrobatics, aerial dances in New Delhi

 Acrobats and traditional young performers from Delhi's slums displayed everyday life stories at a stage show , which saw them teaming up with an artist from Australia, to perform acrobatics and aerial dances.

Teenagers and young adults from the Kathputli Colony began a performance titled 'Aakashan' with fusion rhythmic drumming employing empty steel glasses, plastic water bottles and dholaks, to depict the end of a wedding.

"This cultural exchange imbues the show with a huge amount of creative energy. We learn different skills from each other, share stories, creative impulses, ideas and ways of doing things," says Catherine Daniel, who directed the production.

Daniel heads Vertical Circus, an organisation that works with marginalised communities in Germany, Kenya and India, and "aims to empower people from low-income backgrounds by teaching them circus skills and physical theatre.

" Daniel says she collaborated with the Kalakar Trust, a Delhi-based NGO, which claims to be working with inhabitants of the Kathputli slum for 20 years now.

Meanwhile, the physical theatre show included acts where dancers performed using specialist equipment such as ropes, trapezes and aerial silk. The cast included 20 artists aged between 15 years and 21 years. Hanging six metres high in the air, the dancers, including girls, used their strength, grace and flexibility to create a spectacular scenes.

While the major part of the was performed by Indian artists, one act saw artist Carly Sheppard perform an Australian indigenous inspired dance solo.