Bright year ahead for Indo-American Association

The Indo-American Association has scored a coup by booking the Martha Graham Dance Company for an October performance. The legendary troupe has not performed in Houston since 2005.

The association also will stretch boundaries this year with a show of Indo-jazz fusion featuring some of the biggest names in that business - tabla player Zakir Hussain, vocalist Shankar Mahadevan, bassist Dave Holland, pianist Louiz Banks, drummer Gino Banks, saxophonist Chris Potter and guitarist Sanjay Divecha.

More broadly, the association's 2017 season embraces peace, love and tolerance across multiple art forms that strongly celebrate Indian culture.

Executive director Hari Dayal said he planned his programs long before recent hate crimes against Indian immigrants, but he doesn't mind the coincidence.

"It is a particularly good time to encourage people to explore Indian culture," he said. "I hope IAA is making a modest contribution to that cause."

Radhika Chopra, from the northern Indian state of Jammu, opened the season Friday with a performance of Urdu and Hindi ghazals, poetic songs about loss and love. Spiritual Sufi singer Sanam Marvi visits in early April with her ensemble from Pakistan, as part of a public diplomacy initiative of the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs of the U.S. Department of State.

This summer, EnActe, a South Asian-based theater company from the San Francisco Bay Area, will perform Madhuri Shekar's play "A Nice Indian Boy," a comedy (in English) about a gay Indo-American bringing his lover home to meet his immigrant parents.

Three other shows offer Bollywood flair and fun. "Taj Express: The Bollywood Musical" promises high-energy live music and dance. Versatile singer Kavita Krishnamurty and her band will perform her hits in "Bollywood & Beyond." And actors from Mumbai's Prithvi Theatre will join singers and musicians in a multimedia show about the poet and lyricist Sahir Ludhianvi, who deeply influenced Indian cinema.

The association also will offer a rare concert by the Gandharva Choir, from India's oldest classical music and dance school; and a Hindustani-Carnatic concert featuring Ronu Majumdar, Rajesh Vaidhya, Abhijit Banerjee, Vinod Venkataraman, Ravi Balasubramanian and Srinivasan Govindraj.

Dayal has booked the season's shows at venues across the city, including the Midtown Arts and Cultural Center (MATCH), the Wortham Theater Center, Smart Financial Center and the Stafford Performing Arts Center.