Indian Fusion Dance by Colleena Shakti at a Royal Wedding at Lucknow Safed Baradari

COLLEENA SHAKTI PERFORMS for a royal wedding at Lucknow, India.
Stylistically speaking, Indian Fusion movement vocabulary is inspired by dances of India & the Middle East (including its modern evolutions). Colleena's dance bridges modern and folkloric Oriental vocabulary with extensive postures and spins of North Indian classical and folk dance, intricacies of eyes, hands and facial expression from Eastern Indian classical dance and draws in elements of Central Asian dances as well. She is known through out India and the world for her unique fusion that blends her extensive training in Odissi with all the other dance forms she has immersed in. Accompanying her on drum is her husband, Matthew De Santis.
She describes this special night in a recent post:
"All my favorite aesthetics merged that night - the extravagance & grandeur of the Indian Nawabi style architecture surrounding us… the drama & elegance of deep soulful orchestral sounds of Egypt’s golden era music… A dash of Rajasthani (for our royal Rajput crowd)… then smooth it all over with classical Indian dance touches (restraint and detail in the hands and eyes). Live Darbuka drumming was provided by my beloved husband celebrating the earthy vibration and heavy hips of the ‘Oriental’ dance layers. Persian dance motifs, spins & shapes merged with the North Indian aesthetic, but not for the first time… Lucknow boasts one of the great fusion dance history’s of all times….
Court dancers of Awadh (Lucknow) were extensively trained tawaifs (courtesans) who fused Persian influences with Indian forms developing the classical dance form - Kathak under patronage of the last Nawab - Wajid Ali Shaw; dance, music & poetry reached extraordinary heights. Thousands upon thousands of dancers passed through his Pari Khana (‘house of fairies’) where the dancers of the court lived & trained.
It is a sensitive thing for me to present a fusion in front of royals & elite art lovers… in India - land of the highest dance forms that extend to us from ancient histories. I feel an enormous responsibility to that level of refinement, and to THE DANCERS WHO DANCED IN THIS PALACE BEFORE ME.
Safed Baradari (a white, twelve-door pavilion built by Nawab Wajid Ali Shah in the 1850’s) was the venue… many of the women present whispered the dance hall had not been brought to life with dance like this since those bygone glory days of all night mehfils with dance, music and poetry unfolding well past sunrise."
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[@MaryamShakiba]

Beautiful as always

[@1nilu1]

U look gorgeous Colleena 😍

[@LamiaBarbara]

SO beautiful 😍

[@sharada_dance]

divine!