Indian Summer Festival announces Shabazz Palaces and Sarathy Korwar concert, as well as Nova Bhattacharya dance performance

July shows are the first unveiled for fest’s 13th annual installment

INDIAN SUMMER FESTIVAL has announced its first two performances for the 13th annual event that runs in July in Vancouver.

Rhythm Infinitum: Shabazz Palaces and Sarathy Korwar in Concert hits the Chan Centre for the Performing Arts stage on July 13, while Nova Bhattacharya’s Svāhā! dance performances take place July 14 and 15 at the Vancouver Playhouse.

Seattle’s Shabazz Palaces explore Afrofuturist hip-hop terrain, while Korwar, whose latest project is KALAK, embraces Indo-futurism. (See videos below.)

Nova Dance’s Svāhā!, meanwhile, is a whirling ode to the rites and rituals of women, encompassing 20 dancers and more than 30 cultural traditions—spanning Bharatnatyam, Butoh, and ballet. The piece, which celebrates the transformative power of dance, has received rave reviews in the company’s Toronto hometown.

Pawan Deol and Laura June Albert, who will lead the fest after cofounders Sirish Rao and Laura Byspalko stepped down in 2022, have been working with Jarrett Martineau and the Chan Centre on the musical selections, and with SFU Woodward’s and DanceHouse on the dance programming.

The rest of the Indian Summer Festival lineup of local and international artists and thinkers will be announced at the beginning of June.

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Janet Smith

Janet Smith is founding partner and editorial director of Stir. She is an award-winning arts journalist who has spent more than two decades immersed in Vancouver’s dance, screen, design, theatre, music, opera, and gallery scenes. She sits on the Vancouver Film Critics’ Circle.

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