SAMPRADAYA Premieres at Premier Dance Theatre

East-meets-west in a double-bill from Lata Pada and Mavin Khoo, opening tonight at Harbourfront Centre's Premiere Dance Theatre.

SAMPRADAYA Dance Creations brings its classical form of bharatanatyam to Toronto. Pada's choreography creatively bridges South Asian traditional performing arts with contemporary, incorporating fresh movement and experimental themes.

If you're curious about how this all comes together, check out Shunya and B2 (that's B squared) starting tonight, as part of the NextSteps series.

In shunya, Pada explores the concept of zero in a piece for seven dancers and three musicians with kathak and world music. In B2, bharatanatyam meets ballet in Khoo's intercultural co-creation with Toronto's Ballet Jörgen Canada.

Performances are tonight at 8 p.m. tonight and Saturday at 2 p.m. and 8 p.m at Harbourfront Centre's Premier Dance Theatre (207 Queens Quay West). Tickets (box office: 416-973-4000) are $20-$40 or $35/$15 for students and seniors.

Photo courtesty Sampradaya Dance Creations.