Nriya: Collecting The Story Of Indian Dance In The Black Country 1960-2000

In November 2018, Nritya Black Country announced it had been successful in gaining support from The National Lottery Heritage Lottery Fund for an exciting new project entitled Nritya Black Country.

Virtual: Nritya Black Country 3D Exhibition Launched

Jaivant Patel Dance launches in Partnership with Wolverhampton Art Gallery and University of Wolverhampton, a virtual 3D tour of Nritya Black Country.

Click here to visit the online exhibition.

'Virtual: Nritya Black Country' is part of Jaivant Patel Dance's programme marking the company's 15th Anniversary in 2021.

The Nritya Black Country exhibition was open to the public at Wolverhampton Art Gallery from 19th September to 20th December 2021.

Public Release: Nritya Black Country Documentary

Connecting People Through the Global Culture and Heritage of Indian Dance: This documentary is part of an exhibition curated by Jaivant Patel Dance that shares stories, memories, photographs, films and objects collected from some of the pioneer dancers, teachers, choreographers and members of the local community. The items gathered allow visitors to discover the interwoven threads, connecting place, people and cultural heritage - and look to the future with contemporary artists reinventing Indian dance.

During the second half of the twentieth century, migrants from the Indian subcontinent arrived in the United Kingdom to start a new life. They brought art forms with them that were new to this country and shared them. The first generation of artists were innovators. They brought their classical, folk and traditional dance styles, finding space in temples, community halls and cultural events where they could perform and keep their Indian heritage alive. This embedded an appreciation of Indian dance into the wider cultural fabric of the country. This contributed towards establishing the British South Asian culture, enabling communities to feel proud, place value on and have ownership of their heritage and art forms that had travelled with them.

With thanks to contributors Piali Ray, Nahid Siddiqui, Ramesh Sharma, Gurucharan Mall, Sonia Sabri, Harjinder Singh, Nilima Devi, Uma Patel, Nilakshi Maxumber, Alka Patel, Roshni Patel, Champa Patel & The Gujarati Association in Wolverhampton.

Special mention to Shakila Maan who generously allowed us to feature excerpts from 'A Thousand Borrowed Eyes' (1995), a film on Kathak dancer Nahid Siddiqui. (The full film is also on show as part of the entire Nritya Black Country exhibition.)

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Please click here to view the full documentary on our YouTube channel.

Nritya Black Country Exhibition Now Open At Wolverhampton Art Gallery.

The Nritya Black Country exhibition is now open to the public and is showing at Wolverhampton Art Gallery from 19th September to 20th Dec 2020.

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Please click here for further information.

Nritya: Collecting The Story Of Indian Dance In The Black Country 1960-2000.

Nritya explores the heritage of Indian dance (classical and traditional) in the Midlands. Nritya Black Country will collect and document the largely unwritten and unrecorded story of Indian dance, focusing especially on the Black Country between 1960-2000 for an exhibition in Wolverhampton Art Gallery in 2020.

Elements of this heritage project will be held at Wolverhampton City Archives, preserving them for future generations to share.

This project is supported by Heritage Lottery Fund with thanks to The National Lottery Players.

Project Partners include Wolverhampton Art Gallery, Wolverhampton Archives and Local Studies, Arena Theatre, University of Wolverhampton, British Film Institute, Media Archive For Central England and Black Country Touring.

Watch this space for further details!

Please refer to the links below to connect with Nritya Black Country's web and social media platforms using the following links:

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