It is the desire to experiment with spaces that led renowned Kathak danseuse Shama Bhate to conceptualise her latest passion project, Chaturang ki Chaupal.

The show, which will be performed for the first time in Mumbai, will recreate the ancient game of ludo, also known as chaupal, on stage by employing Kathak and Hindustani classical music. "The idea has been with me for the last two decades," says Bhate. She explains that usually, when a dance is performed on a proscenium stage, the audience sits in front. "But, I have been trying to imagine a choreography where the stage is in the centre, and the audience is sitting all around. When I was mulling on this, chaupal came to my mind."