ANKH DANCE COMPANY/GAURI SHARMA TRIPATHI

Contemporary South Asian dance, Text-based: light, Kathak

SIZE OF COMPANY
Up to 8 on the road

SCALE OF VENUE
Small-, middle- and large-scale

PERMANENT STAFF
Artistic Director
Gauri Sharma Tripathi

Senior Dancers
Payal Patel
Seema Patel

Administrator
Shashank Tripathi

ARTISTIC POLICY
Ankh Dance Company, under the direction of Gauri Sharma Tripathi, produces Kathak dance productions featuring artists from both the UK and India. The company produces innovative live performances exploring Kathak in its rawest traditional and contemporary forms, and seeing it from a young person’s perspective.

REVIEW EXTRACTS
‘The strongest dancing comes from Tripathi. Her long fluid arms have superb authority.’ Zoe Anderson, The Independent

‘Watching Tripathi dance is a magical experience. Not only has she mastered her craft to perfection, from her liquid fingers to the tips of her toes, but she is also a first rate actress with a charming naturalness quite lacking any artifice.’ The Stage

‘The classical dance style originating in north India, that is neither too traditional nor too experimental, while at the same time palatable and well produced.’ Sanjoy Roy, The Guardian

CURRENT PRODUCTION
Waqt The production explores time cycles interlaced with Kahtak’s dance vocabulary to the accompaniment of well known artists like Reena Bhardwaj (Vocals), Sanju Sahai (Tabla) and others. (70 mins, 12 on stage.)

FUTURE PRODUCTIONS
Art-net Featuring Kathak recital of goddesses from India. Still in its formative stages.

Route–root A numbers game with mathematical concepts interlayered with rhythms of Hindustani classical music.

WRAP-AROUND
Lecture demonstrations and workshops with management to foster innovation and link art and business.

RECENT INTERNATIONAL WORK
2006 India (Kanya)
2005–06 France (Ish–Mir)
2005 India (Yuvha), Switzerland (Kanya)

TOURING AVAILABILITY
Waqt from January 2008