Bageshree Vaze, Vineet Vyas and Pankaj Mishra: In the Darbar
A drummer answers a dancer’s footwork, and suddenly you’re leaning forward to hear what happens next. In the Darbar brings that exchange to the Isabel in Kingston on Friday, November 13. The venue’s current billing names dancer and vocalist Bageshree Vaze, tabla artist Vineet Vyas, and sarangi player Pankaj Mishra. They bring North Indian classical dance and music together in a performance that gives the ear as much to follow as the eye.
Watch the conversation happen
Kathak is a dance form where a turn, a change of pace or a closely placed footfall can shift the feel of a passage. Here, Vaze’s steps meet the rhythms of the tabla. The two drums can make a whole range of sounds, and you can listen for the moments when dance and percussion lock into the same rhythm, then head in different directions. The bowed sarangi adds another colour to the exchange.
Vaze works across dance, singing and composition. She won a Dora Award for composition in 2022, and the Isabel describes this performance as part of her exploration of Indo-Canadian identity. If you’ve never been to a Kathak performance, a good way in is to pick one detail to follow: the footwork, the drum pattern or the melodic line. The others will pull your attention soon enough.
A Friday night in the recital hall
This is part of the Isabel’s Friday Nights series in the Principal Emerita Karen Hitchcock Recital Hall. Start with a ticket and bring someone who likes seeing musicians and dancers make decisions in real time. You’ll have something to talk about after the show besides where you parked.
When and where
Friday, November 13, 2026 at 8:00 p.m.. Principal Emerita Karen Hitchcock Recital Hall, Isabel Bader Centre for the Performing Arts, 390 King Street West, Kingston. Tickets are $25 through the Isabel box office.
