Indian Gala

A half-full audience of mainly Asian families, there to watch young friends and family perform in Chhandam, a London-based group of dancers, musicians and vocalists, was first treated to a mini recital by sitarist Gaurav Mazumdar and his colleague, tabla drum player Shabaz Hussain Khan. Sitting crosslegged on a raised platform,

flanked by Shabaz and two women (one a Sandie Shaw lookalike) providing drone accompaniment on the tanpura, Gaurav played two ragas with the skill befitting a senior disciple of sitar maestro Ravi Shankar.

Eyes shut, Gaurav sent graceful, gliding notes fluttering up to the mirrorball twirling overhead, so mesmerising listeners that no one would have been that surprised if he'd levitated there himself.

A pulse-raising exchange with the galloping fingers of Shabaz demonstrated the rapport between both instruments and men; gear changes were met with mutual stares which said: "So how about that, then?"

The smell of incense pervaded the auditorium for the debut of Taranga (Waves), Chhandam's paean to the varied folk music of regional India.

There was no doubting the enthusiasm of this troupe of youthful dancers. Dressed in bright cotton saris and costumes appliqued with mirrors, their hands and feet painted with henna, they shook their bellbedecked ankles and - in a fertility dance from Gujurat - clacked their garba sticks with gusto.

But with most of the music pre-recorded and some of the dances under-rehearsed - waving to parents, though endearing, should be discouraged - it was a performance more appropriate to a local hall than the QEH.

The teenage trio who beat out a furious tattoo on their barrel-shaped Punjabi dhol drums finished the evening with a bang, nonetheless.

Currently showing at the Queen Elizabeth Hall.