World dance takes a Bollywood turn

JOHANNESBURG: A mega Bollywood dance show celebrating different styles of movement and dance will feature top talent from South Africa and Britain. Its world premiere will be in South Africa.

“Red”, a brain child of Raza Jaffrey, the original star of the Andrew Lloyd Webber-AR Rahman’s production, ‘Bombay Dreams’, will run from August 10 to September 3 at the Nelson Mandela Theatre in Johannesburg. Top lighting artists, costume designers and choreographers from London have already paid several visits to South Africa to prepare for the big budget extravaganza, which will feature six dancers and two drummers from London and 11 local dancers.

The show will include an eclectic mix of flamenco, salsa, hip-hop, belly dance, kathakali, break dance and ballet, which is backed by music that features singers like Asha Bhosle and Sukhvinder Singh.

“‘Red’ has the feel of a festival and is all about the magic that can come from the meeting of diverse traditions,” said Jaffrey during a whistle-stop visit to finalise the local cast. “The show is an evocative, high-energy mix of the most awe-inspiring moves. I’m thrilled that some of South Africa’s own talented dancers and musicians will be making it happen,” added Jaffrey. 

The team putting it together are determined that ‘Red’ will reach out to all audiences, with no requirement of an understanding of Indian culture or dance.

“Just as the audiences for ‘Riverdance’ didn’t have to know anything about the traditions of Ireland, our audience won’t need to know anything about India. ‘Red’ simply asks you to enjoy the spectacle,” Jaffrey said.