UK-based Indian Classical Dancer Himadri Madan spreads the message of ‘Climate Change’ through dance at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe and the Edinburgh Multicultural Festival.

Himadri Madan is a performer, choreographer and dance teacher with deep knowledge and passion for Bharatnatyam and Kathak. She graduated from Natya Institute of Kathak and Choreography, India with BA in Choreography and earned recognition as an Indian classical choreographer. She trained in India and honed her skills, post which she went on to pursue an MFA in Choreography from Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance, London where she was awarded the Leverhulme Trust Scholarship and began training in postmodern contemporary choreographic practices.

Himadri’s choreographic practice revolves around creating socially and politically relevant work through the vocabulary of Indian classical dance. She aims at inter-twining Indian Classical Arts with the fabric of contemporary dance scene to make this traditional art form more comprehensible, while also making space for North Indian classical dance in Scotland. Through her art she wishes to bring forth pressing issues and sparking conversations about the world we live in.

Amongst her recent works as the principal choreographer was “The Ticking Clock” based on Climate Change created and performed by Theiya Arts Dance Collective at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe and the Edinburgh Multicultural Festival in 2022 which emerged as a huge success. This performance supported by the Climate Clock centres on the urgency of climate change and uses the countdown as the main driver for the performance.

The said performance is true to her ideology as it employed fluid movements traditionally used in South Asian classical dance forms to depict nature gradually telling tales submerging the audience in an introspective recount of how humankind’s relationship with the environment has changed over time. The development of this project was supported by The Workroom and the National Theatre of Scotland through their Artist support residencies and Discover residencies respectively. The performance emerged from a process of research and development where all artists immersed themselves in exploring their own cultural, historical, and personal relationships with the natural world.

As a choreographer, Himadri deems herself dedicated to exploring the intersection of art and social issues to be able to make a valuable and impactful contribution to the artistic community and society as a whole.