Five questions with... Indu Sharma

What brought you to Swindon, and how did South Asian Performing Arts Centre (SAPAC) come together?

I have always been interested in performing arts since childhood; my mother was a professional Indian singer, and my uncle was in theatre, so there was always music and dance in the household. 

At 25, I moved to Swindon for work. Once I had the time, I decided to focus on my passions. I found that there weren’t many places in the UK teaching diverse music and dance from the Indian subcontinent (from places like Sri Lanka, South India, and North India) – so I thought, why don’t we start it ourselves? I spoke to friends and rounded up smaller community groups, and in 2009, SAPAC was formed.  

All the groups were very receptive to this idea, and we started bringing in performances from India to Swindon. We also invited artists from the local area to perform, such as the Dhadiyal Brothers and Soniya Sabri for dance workshops and performances.  

Classical Indian music and dance is all about developing yourself… It brings peace and harmony and makes us realise that we are part of this universe and to nature.

Why do you think it’s important to promote classic, folk and contemporary South Asian music, dance and theatre in England?  

The thing is, some people had an idea about art from the Indian subcontinent but most people in and around Swindon were not initially exposed to it, so they were very fascinated when we presented it.  It’s important to make it part of the cultural scene here and to ensure the performing art from the Indian subcontinent has a future in this region. 

India is a big continent and the dance and music go back hundreds of years, if not thousands! The philosophy behind the continent’s dance and music are very much rooted in nature and in the psyche of human beings. It’s in line with our spirit, and when people learn or explore it, they would find that they would feel very ‘spiritually satisfied’ with it.  

 

Classical Indian music and dance is all about developing yourself, not just physically but also spiritually. It improves our thinking and us as human beings. It brings peace and harmony and makes us realise that we are part of this universe and to nature.  

How does SAPAC engage with the community, and what would you like those involved to take away from the experience?

 Our focus has always been about presenting classes and art from the subcontinent in accessible ways, and to do this we need to consider the changing landscape and to reflect the communities we are a part of.   



Our programme keeps everyone informed and opens up lots of doors for opportunities. Our volunteers come and go, and we are always looking at ways to invite collaborations and help each other. Those involved have not only volunteered with us, but also gone on to propel further in their artistic careers.

We get people involved in art, and then present them with choices. Diverse art in my mind is not just about art in the subcontinent of India, but also the diverse forms of art. 

We try to connect with people and make them see the enjoyment of art and life. That is really the essence of what we want to achieve. When we have done this, and have taken stressors away, then we know we are doing something right.  

SAPAC has partnered up with lots of Swindon organisations - what has this experience been like?

 We grew out of three of the large community organisations in Swindon: Hindu Samaj, Swindon Tamil Association, and Swindon Indian Association, and worked with them to provide diverse cultural performances at local and community events.  

It’s always been a two-way partnership. The artists that we platform are encouraged to carry on, and therefore keen to collaborate. For example, a Tabla player who was trained in India got in touch with us, and now he is running his own Tabla classes in Swindon independently. We also invite artists from India, Canada, and from other parts of the UK. Thanks to our supporters, we’ve been able to continue presenting artists from all over.  

Finally, SAPAC has received funding through our Let’s Create Jubilee Fund, and through Arts Council National Lottery Project Grant for your ‘Shaping Up’ project. Could you tell us more about this and what it helped achieve?

 Especially after a long lockdown, seeing the buzz from the Jubilee celebrations was like a ray of sunshine! We worked together with organisations like Swindon Dance, and it all came together well.  

The grant for ‘Shaping Up’ was great. It was something that we wanted to do after the lockdown. It helped us tackle this challenging time and tell our audiences and well-wishers that we are in business and would like to move forward with our plans to offer residencies in schools and colleges, arrange high profile performances and regional diverse art events like Festivals and Melas.  

It went extremely well, and we had lots of enquiries from new talent and many other organisations who wanted to collaborate with us.  

Is there  anything else you’d like to add?

I think if somebody wants to learn about any art, the first port of call would have to be to find who to ask. From my own personal experience, it would be about connecting yourself to places and people like us who make it possible to learn from those that have done it before. We are here, and cultural organisations like SAPAC are around for them to join. 

You can visit SAPAC’s website at www.sapac.co.uk.