The production, currently in rehearsal in Birmingham, home to one of the largest dance hubs outside London, will bring together the world class multi-talented skills of husband-and-wife team and SSco Founders Sonia Sabri and Sarvar Sabri – the first time in over a year due to the pandemic.

ROSHNI, meaning light, brilliance, enlightenment in Persian, is a  soul-stirring, combination of Kathak dance, with live music from a global palette of styles, driven by the bold rhythms of Tabla percussion.

ROSHNI brings together Sonia’s distinctive style of dance, rooted in the traditions of Kathak from Northern India, and her lived British experience and fuses diverse musical genres and artists, ranging from South Asia, Middle East and Eastern Europe, celebrating the rich diversity of our global community.

Sonia Sabri who recently helped choreograph the large outdoor production Wondrous Stories which opened Birmingham 2022 Festival, is amongst the brightest and most inspirational of British born dancer-choreographers working in the twenty-first century. Creating work that spans from the presentation of classical North Indian Kathak to explorations of contemporary approaches. Sonia is currently a Cultural Leader choreographing for the opening ceremony of the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games which will be watched by over 1 billion people across the globe.

Sarvar Sabri is an internationally renowned Tabla player and composer who regularly works across artforms and for theatre, TV, radio and film. His versatility and passion for the rich diversity of the world’s musical traditions has spurred him to constantly experiment with other world-class musicians and composers, and to extend the boundaries of his own classical form.

Sonia said: “It is proving a very exciting summer for us as we continue to celebrate the 20th anniversary of SSco.  Our outdoor production Mughal Miniatures celebrating the deep-rooted cultural, political, and human links between Birmingham and the Indian subcontinent premiered its preview taster at the recent Birmingham International Dance Festival 2022 and is now enjoying its first tour.  And, in recent months, we have brought together talented musicians from around the world to create our first Global Music Youth Ensemble currently performing at festivals. 

 With the latter proving a massive hit with audiences both myself and Sarvar are very excited to be performing together in ROSHNI which will receive its world premiere at the Belfast Lyric Theatre in August as part of the Belfast Mela”.

 ROSHNI also features the musical talents of Katie Stevens and Ruth Lyndsay.  Katie who received her classical training on the clarinet at the Royal Birmingham Conservatoire specialises in eastern European, klezmer, Irish and Scandinavian music, playing traditional woodwinds such as the Bulgarian kaval, Irish flute and whistles, Swedish pipa and Arabic nay. Ruth is a violinist who specialises in folk and traditional music as well as having a degree in Classical music from the Royal Birmingham Conservatoire.

ROSHNI will premiere at the Belfast Lyric Theatre Monday 22 August as part of Belfast Mela; Shrewsbury Folk Festival Sunday 28 August; Blackwood Miners Theatre Wales Saturday 26 November, Kala Sangam Bradford’s intercultural arts hub Thursday 17 November.

Further tour dates will be announced shortly via the website