THE Great Arc Festival commemorates the 200th anniversary of the trigonometrical survey that mapped the Indian sub-continent. Its centrepiece is an exhibition due in London this autumn, supplemented by a satellite version that tours various other UK cities.
Great Arc also has a performing arts component, of which this appearance by the Indian modern dance pioneer Astad Deboo was a part. Deboo, who is in his fifties, has spent much of his career mapping international dance. The plethora of global dance traditions he has absorbed has been fused with his own kathak and, later, kathakali training. The result is a peculiar hybrid style that is, at times, beautiful to watch.