{"id":330606,"date":"2026-03-05T17:17:09","date_gmt":"2026-03-05T17:17:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/330606\/"},"modified":"2026-03-05T17:17:09","modified_gmt":"2026-03-05T17:17:09","slug":"princess-of-wales-celebrates-british-indian-culture-during-special-royal-engagement","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/330606\/","title":{"rendered":"Princess of Wales celebrates British Indian culture during special royal engagement"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Princess of Wales spent today immersing herself in British Indian culture during a special trip to Leicester, timed perfectly with the Hindu celebration of Holi.<\/p>\n

Catherine’s visit to the city comes just a day after the vibrant festival marking spring, love and new beginnings.<\/p>\n

Her first stop was meeting Aakash Odedra, a celebrated choreographer and dancer who heads up his own company in the city.<\/p>\n

The Princess of Wales got to watch a rehearsal of his newest piece, ‘Songs of the Bulbul’, which brings an ancient Sufi tale to life through movement and music.<\/p>\n

\"Princess<\/p>\n

The Princess of Wales spent today immersing herself in British Indian culture during a special trip to Leicester, timed perfectly with the Hindu celebration of Holi.<\/p>\n

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\"Princess<\/p>\n

Catherine’s visit to the city comes just a day after the vibrant festival marking spring, love and new beginnings.<\/p>\n

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It’s a story about a caged songbird whose beautiful melody ends in heartbreak.<\/p>\n

Odedra’s journey to becoming one of Britain’s most innovative dance artists is quite something.<\/p>\n

Originally from Birmingham, he trained in the classical Indian styles of Bharatanatyam and Kathak before heading to India to study under Bollywood choreographer Shiamak Davar.<\/p>\n

He set up his Leicester-based company back in 2011, driven by the belief that art should be open to everyone. These days, more than 1,000 people take part in his learning programmes each week.<\/p>\n

\"Princess<\/p>\n

After taking in the dance rehearsal, Catherine headed to Leicester’s famous Golden Mile to explore the area’s thriving business community.<\/p>\n

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‘Songs of the Bulbul’ is a collaboration with choreographer Rani Khanam and Royal Albert Hall associate artist Ranjan, whose original score is performed live by Manchester Camerata alongside vocalist Abi Sampa.<\/p>\n

After taking in the dance rehearsal, Catherine headed to Leicester’s famous Golden Mile to explore the area’s thriving business community.<\/p>\n

The stretch is renowned for boasting one of the UK’s highest concentrations of Indian jewellery shops, sari boutiques and fashion stores.<\/p>\n

\"Princess<\/p>\n

The Princess of Wales popped into several family-run establishments during her walkabout, keen to discover how these local businesses play their part in supporting the wider community.<\/p>\n

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It’s a brilliant hub for South Asian culture, packed with authentic restaurants, sweet shops and chai spots.<\/p>\n

The Princess of Wales popped into several family-run establishments during her walkabout, keen to discover how these local businesses play their part in supporting the wider community.<\/p>\n

It was a lovely way to round off a day dedicated to celebrating the heritage and contributions of Leicester’s British Indian population.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Princess of Wales spent today immersing herself in British Indian culture during a special trip to Leicester,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":330607,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[32],"tags":[321,93,61,60,4638,53245],"class_list":["post-330606","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-celebrities","tag-celebrities","tag-entertainment","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-princess-of-wales","tag-royal"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/330606","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=330606"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/330606\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/330607"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=330606"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=330606"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=330606"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}