When Flamenco meet Odissi

Sitar meets guitar, tabla meets drums and operasque singing meets the Hindustani classical notes in a dance studio in Mumbai's suburban Vile Parle, where German flamenco dancers Miguel Angel and Catarina Mora join an Odissi dance troupe led by noted dance guru and exponent Shubhada Varadkar to work on a collaborative exercise.

"We are deliberately not calling it fusion. Both are signature and diverse styles and have rich, unique and different legacies," says the Berlin-born Mora – an alumnus of the Academy of Music and Performing Arts, Vienna, who has danced and choreographed her way to acclaim across opera houses and theatres in Europe.

Her partner Angel too, is "deeply respectful" of the ancient dance tradition of India. "It requires immense dedication, passion and training and we've nothing but respect," says the Seville-born flamenco exponent, who began his career at the Ballet Nacional de Espana as a soloist and has since successfully worked with companies and choreographers like Jose Granero, Debbie Allen y Ciro and Canales to create large full-length programmes in Japan, Israel, Italy and Germany.

"The audience will be presented with a highly up-to-date flamenco theatre and there will certainly be plenty of reason to exchange ideas," says Angel, while Mora who is listening on, underlines:

"The gypsies created flamenco to articulate the sociopolitical and sociocultural stifling they felt due to wars, purges, discrimination and bigotry," and adds, "There is a need to lure flamenco out of the folkloristic-touristic impasse and enrich it with dance-theatrical and compositional elements, question role patterns with conventions moderately against the grain."

The roots of the current Odissi-Flamenco collaboration can be found in last year's Stuttgart Flamenco Festival an annual event Mora has been organising since 2010 as faculty at the Stuttgart Opera School. "We invite dancers from the world over with their travel and stay taken care of, to perform there and exchange notes with us. They are then given workshops on Flamenco and choreography to help them with perspective on other styles," explains Mora.

Last year, Shubhada Varadkar and her students had gone on that exchange to Berlin and both sides were quite taken with the other. "It was wonderful to juxtapose the energy and vigour of Flamenco with the lyricality and grace of Odissi," says Varadkar, who finds the styles hugely complimentary. "Apart from the major collaborative performance at the behest of the German consulate, Angel and I will also jam at the upcoming Kala Ghoda festival," she informs, and adds: "Both these artistes are holding special workshops at Goregaon's Natanam studio. While Catarina will initiate beginners in Flamenco technique with an emphasis in footwork, arms, hands and basic flamenco rhythms, Miguel's workshop will concentrate on choreography for beginners."