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london mela 2006

magic mela

Saturday, 05 August 2006

A delightful playground for both the young and the young at heart. This year enjoy the incredible Kaleidoscope Project, and a collaboration between Grange Park School in Hillingdon and Emergency Exit Arts, which combines interactive workshops with storytelling. Plus you’ll have the opportunity to learn those essential bhangra steps with Jugnu Bhangra.
12.30pm-1pm, 3pm-3.30pm, 5.15pm-5.45pm: The Adventures of Hamza with Stephen Novy
In 1558, the Moghul emperor Akbar set up a glorious project: to tell the story of the epic and mostly mythical adventures of Amir Hamza through pictures. The result was a huge set of beautifully dramatic illustrations, using the very best Persian and Indian artists, recording heroics, trickery, magic and romance. Of the 1400 illustrations produced, only 200 survive, and in 2003, the Victoria and Albert Museum (V&A) exhibited 93 of these images, inviting professional storytellers to bring them to life. Ealing-based educator and puppeteer Stephen Novy was one of these storytellers, and today he recounts a selection of these enchanting legends of Arabia and Persia to delight audiences young and old.

1.15pm-1.45pm, 3.45pm-4.15pm, 6pm-6.30pm: Bollywood dance with Nikita
Ever fancied being in the movies? As the Bollywood craze shows no signs of easing off, professional dancer Nikita and her team will give you the film star treatment in minutes as you learn some simple but impressive first steps. Nikita is a professional, classically-trained Indian dancer. She runs her own company called 'The Dancing Nikita Company' and teaches dance classes for all ages and levels in west London.

2pm-2.45pm, 4.30pm-5.15pm: Bhangra for beginners with Jugnu Bhangra
Kent-based Jugnu Bhangra is one of southern England’s leading dance troupes, introducing audiences young and old to bhangra since 1971. Four members of this dynamic group will give a loud and colourful performance, introducing you to this traditional dance, its music and the instruments used to play it - the dhol and the chimta. They’ll even teach you a few steps along the way.

12.30pm-6.30pm: Carrom café
The table-top game of carrom (the earliest version of snooker and pool) has been played throughout the subcontinent for years, and its popularity in the West continues to spread like wildfire. Teachers from the Carrom Association UK (organisers of the British Open Carrom Competition) will be on hand to teach you the basics. Try your hand at this highly addictive game and even win a prize.

3pm-3.45pm, 5pm-5.45pm: Karim Khan – ice sculptor
Returning to the London Mela for the second year running, sculptor Karim Khan will create dazzling designs in ice before your very eyes so prepare to be amazed.

12.30pm-6.30pm: The Kaleidoscope Project
Emergency Exit Arts present the Kaleidoscope Project, which aims to make visual arts and traditional mela art-forms more accessible to a larger audience. Artists will create rangoli patterns and shapes using traditional themes alongside modern materials. Rangoli is a traditional way of decorating courtyards and walls of Indian houses, places of worship and eating places.

12.30pm-6.30pm: Face painting and henna tattoos

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