Seibi Lee rehearses before the show. Pic/PRADEEP DHIVAR

A soulful jugalbandi of the sitar, harmonium and tabla welcomes us as we enter an apartment in the Nepean Sea Road neighbourhood of the city. In nimble but powerful movements, kathak artiste Seibi Lee glides across the floor, and when a moment to pause arrives, she greets us with a warm namaste. The 52-year-old artiste from California is in the middle of a rehearsal, where she is performing the dramatic scene of Sita Haran from the Ramayana. With rhythmic transitions, and a swift change of stance and expression, she portrays the characters involved in the scene — the golden deer, Sita, Ravana, Rama and Lakshman — all by herself. The sequence is a part of Lee’s first solo in India to be performed this evening in Mumbai.