When Surya Sameera Gonella of Nelson started organizing an Indian cultural event for the Capitol Theatre two years ago she knew there were Indian performers in the West Kootenay, but had no idea how many.
"I was amazed to find out how many performers we have, who actually do classical dance here," she said.
"My question was, 'How do I showcase the beauty of India in two hours?' I wanted it to be singing, dancing, and art forms. And cuisine is one of the best ways to show culture too, right?"
The result was a capacity audience at the Capitol Theatre on April 12 that spent two hours immersed in Indian culture. They applauded dancers, singers and musicians of all ages, all of them immigrants from India living in the West Kootenay.
In the intermission they ate Indian snacks prepared and served by Kootenay Tamil Kitchen, and were entertained by DJ Taalspin.
"I'm so happy," Gonella said after the event. "I'm amazed to see how this turned out."
She said the audience at the Capitol was "a blend of Indian and Canadian communities sitting together. We were sharing our heritage with them."
This spirit of sharing was manifested throughout the evening by host Martina Mejaba. With pride, warmth and humour she guided the audience and performers through the program.
Manpreet Kaur, with Simran Kaur, performed a mix of Bhangra and Gidda traditional dance from the Punjab, where she was a dance teacher before she moved to Castlegar two years ago.
"Dance is my passion," Manpreet said, "and whenever I listen to music I get energetic and forget about the world around me, as you saw in our performance today. I am really happy to have everyone here, celebrating us and celebrating India. It's a happy moment."
Riya Garg of Nelson performed an improvised piece based on her South Indian classical dance training.
"I felt like I was trying to convey a message," she said. "The piece was about the Indian God Krishna, who is all about divine love and playfulness. So bringing those two together and trying to share that, express that, that was what I was feeling on stage as well. It felt really connected."
Pallavi Kute performed a folk dance from the province of Maharashtra. Previously a resident of Nelson and other communities in western Canada, she now lives in Revelstoke. She says she considers Nelson her second home after India, which she left 15 years ago.
"I was just trying to have fun," she said of her performance on the Capitol stage. "That's what I've learned in life, you know, always have fun and make the most of it."
