Eastern Promise

2.3 million people of Asian descent live in the UK and curry is now often said to be our national dish, but how much do we really know about Asian culture? How many of us really know our palak paneer from our Kathakali, our Tendulkar from our Ramayana? Too often when the rich and varied traditions of the Indian subcontinent or Far East are represented in the arts, they are boiled down to Shilpa Shetty or Chicken Chow Mein.

This year’s InvAsian festival is set to change all that by exposing the culturally curious to the diversity of the continent through Edinburgh's first specific Asian arts festival. “The Romans couldn’t do it, Edward Longshanks couldn’t do it but now Scotland is about to be conquered by a new InvAsian,” states the official press release. Hyperbole aside, with around 30 different performance companies coming from China, India, Korea, Pakistan, Russia and Japan, there is something of a typhoon in the making.

InvAsian is the result of the collaboration between long-time Festival favourites ClubWest and Tartan Silk, with its inception rooted in the surprise success of former Indian Idol contestant Anshul Tomer. Tomer, a student at Edinburgh, drew large audiences last year singing Bollywood classics, despite arriving too late to be in any official Fringe listings.

Noting the multitude of Asian talent in the UK and worldwide, Tartan Silk director Martin Hunt and ClubWest director Kevin Williams saw the potential for an all-Asian arts festival. “It just made perfect sense to bring it all together in one place,” says Williams.

Applications poured in. Though the festival’s opening show has not yet taken place, the pair are already swamped with keen performers queuing up to join in next year. “Everyone wants to be associated with it,” says Hunt, “and we are privileged just to be a part of it.”

So what exactly will this InvAsian involve? The line-up is as diverse as the kaleidoscopic cultures the festival represents, with acts ranging from traditional Indian dance to modern Korean ‘Streetdance’, from Hindu epics to a Chinese Elvis – resurrected from a recent overdose of Peanut Butter Jelly Dim-Sum. All this will be set in the wonderful new Quincenterary Hall opposite the Festival Theatre on Nicholson Street.

Aiming to be as socially inclusive as possible, InvAsian has events to suit the whole family. There are storytelling workshops throughout the festival, as well as dance classes ranging from Indian folk to modern Bollywood, for anyone keen to stray from the Strictly Come Dancing repertoire. If karaoke floats your boat you can garner inspiration from performances by the Chinese Elvis, apparently a winner of The Weakest Link, and Britain’s only Pakistani Elvis, before entering Elvis Idol and competing to become Edinburgh’s most embarrassing dad.

For the keen theatre-goer there is plenty to satisfy the proverbial palate. For those with Homeric appetites, there's a two-part performance of the seminal Hindi epic Ramayana. If you're up for some ancient Kathakali theatre, head along to – deep breath – Kalyanasawghandikam, a highly stylised explosion of colourful dance and physical theatre. Finally TARA, one of Britain’s first Asian theatre groups, bring their Trio of Plays which blend East and West in an “alluring vision of modern Britain.”

Traversing darker contemporary issues the Russian production The Self Murder explores the alarming suicide rate amongst Russian youths, and dark comedy Another Paradise takes a look at the controversial issue of ID cards. In addition to exposing traditional Asian art forms, InvAsian is committed to tacking present-day issues affecting not only the continent itself, but also many of the second and third generation ethnic Asians living in Britain. As Hunt enthuses, ClubWest director Williams is a man with “his finger very firmly on the pulse when it comes to the contemporary.”

Almost certain to take this year's audiences by storm are performances of Korean streetdance. After the huge success of last year’s five-star sell-out, Ballerina Who Loves a B-boy, Skywalk return with a new show that again looks set to enthral with gravity-defying dance and body popping. Also preparing to throw shapes that most Scots can only dream of are Ariyang Party, whose recent performances with legendary percussionist Choi So-ri combined dizzying physicality with world-class musicianship.

What is especially encouraging is the widespread support and interest that the organisers have already secured in InvAsian. This is not simply an exposition of Asian arts and culture, but a festival aimed at displaying connections with Britain and Scotland.

Groups such as Dance Ihayami, Scotland’s first Indian dance company, exemplify the kind of cross-cultural connections the festival is intent on establishing with the support of the Scottish government. Backing for the project is clearly mutual, as the Consul General for India Mr Ramesh Chander has described InvAsian as “a welcome change.”

“I am sure it will draw appreciation, enthusiasm and encouragement from the multicultural society of Scotand,” he said.

InvAsian looks to be a predetermined success, with countries like China already pledging more performers for next year's festival. Though successful Asian performers are nothing new at the Edinburgh Festival, and bringing them together in a parallel event may be partly a matter of common-sense, InvAsian promises to make the most of this move's huge potential.

So as you peruse this year's Fringe guide, a mazy tome filled with the usual ‘Muppets Do Dickens'-type offerings, consider looking East and discovering something new. Or you could just dust off those blue-suede shoes, slap on some Bryl-cream and be Elvis for the day.