Utsav – the Celebration is an evening of five new pieces, based on the Kathak dance style, brought together by the Oxford-based choreographer and dancer Anuradha Chaturvedi. Anuradha is a highly talented dancer who has mastered the expressive Kathak style, with its fast turns, stamping feet and expressive arms and face; but like dancers in many disciplines, she is interested in broadening the horizons of her style to take in other influences.

The most striking example of this aim is her danced interpretation of William Wordsworth’s well known poem Daffodils. This is an inspired choice, as the poet speaks continually of dance – the daffodils “fluttering and dancing in the breeze” or “tossing their heads in sprightly dance”. The difficult question is how to put this over. Rightly, Chaturvedi has not gone for a literal expression of the words, but rather for a gentle and very beautiful evocation of the feeling of the poem. She doesn’t toss her head, although there certainly is some sprightly dance, and towards the end she is clearly kneeling amongst the “host of daffodils”.

All this takes place, accompanied by five supporting dancers, to a combination of live music and recorded track by Malcolm Atkins, in which he improvises on Indian classical music on electric violin, synthesiser, and a strange small keyboard whose reeds are powered by a tube into which he blows. All this works pretty well. Less successful is his narration of the poem itself, which is at best barely audible.

A Host of Golden Daffodils comes second in a programme of five pieces. The others also contain some experimental elements, but are closer to the classical roots of this dance style. Gazal is based on a romantic poem, with intricate hand gestures to convey its feeling, Ram Vandana is a tribute to the gods, while Taal Charka demonstrates the rhythmic precision of the Kathak style.

Chaturvedi’s costume-designs, traditional in line, rich in colour, add greatly to the effect.