Summary

Britten Sinfonia and Sir Mark Elder join forces with Pagrav Dance Company, fusing classical Indian Kathak dance styles with contemporary storytelling to bring to life Holst’s chamber opera Sāvitri.

Sāvitri is a musing on love and death, a tale from the Mahabharata of the eponymous heroine’s battle to save her husband. This new interpretation of Holst’s rarely performed opera has been conceived in collaboration with choreographer Urja Desai Thakore – one of the UK’s leading kathak practitioners – and her ground-breaking Pagrav Dance Company, using dance to shine new light on an ancient story.

The programme also features Holst’s setting of hymns from one of Hinduism’s most important works, the Rig Veda, alongside music by Grace Williams and Benjamin Britten, and from Jacqueline Shave’s longstanding trio with tabla virtuoso Kuljit Bhamra and guitarist John Parricelli.

Student tickets £5 via Student Pulse London.

Find out what happened at the first rehearsal with Pagrav Dance Company in this behind-the-scenes video:

Listen to some of the music from the concert on Spotify: