For Sheetul Bisnauthsing, performing at this year’s BNZ Auckland Diwali Festival is more than an opportunity to showcase classical Indian dance. It marks a significant milestone for her students, who will take to the Aotea Stage together for the first time.
Bisnauthsing teaches at Samaya, an Auckland-based Kathak school whose students range in age from seven to 70. Their participation highlights how the centuries-old Indian dance form continues to connect generations in modern-day Tāmaki Makaurau.
Originally from Mauritius, Bisnauthsing moved to Auckland 12 years ago to pursue an undergraduate degree at the University of Auckland.
“Auckland became home,” she says.
A Mauritian Hindu with ancestral roots in Uttar Pradesh, northern India, Bisnauthsing has a personal connection to Kathak, one of India's major classical dance forms, which developed in northern India.
Growing up in multicultural Mauritius gave her an appreciation for cultural diversity and the way different traditions can coexist. Her journey with Kathak has become a way to explore her artistic interests while maintaining a connection with India's classical dance heritage.
She began teaching Kathak in New Zealand in 2022 and has since used Samaya to introduce the art form to students from different generations.
At the festival on Sunday, 1 November, Bisnauthsing and her students will perform a selection of semi-classical and classical Kathak. The programme will begin with Araj, from the Indian series Bandish Bandits, before concluding with a classical duet set to Trap Padhant by IndianRaga. The duet will feature Dr Nikita Botadra of Aayat Dance Co.
Beyond dance, Diwali remains an important link to Bisnauthsing's family, heritage and childhood memories.
In Mauritius, where Diwali is a public holiday, preparations traditionally begin with cleaning and decluttering homes as a symbol of renewal. Families prepare Indian sweets to share with relatives, friends and neighbours.
Bisnauthsing remembers celebrating the festival with her grandparents, wearing new clothes and lighting diyas, or traditional earthen lamps.
Although her celebrations have evolved since moving to Auckland, their meaning remains unchanged. Living far from her relatives in Mauritius, she now celebrates with friends who have become like family, gathering to cook, pray and share meals.
Lighting diyas continues to be one of her most cherished traditions. She describes the practice as an “unbroken thread of light” linking her ancestors in Uttar Pradesh, her childhood in Mauritius and her present life in Auckland.
Kathak has become another way for her to preserve this connection and pass it on. Through teaching, she shares cultural knowledge with young New Zealanders learning about their heritage and adults reconnecting with the tradition later in life.
For Bisnauthsing, Diwali's central values of light, knowledge, togetherness and the triumph of good over evil hold meaning beyond the annual celebration. She hopes her work will help preserve these values while allowing younger generations to interpret and embrace them in multicultural New Zealand.
“For me, keeping those traditions alive is about more than preserving the past. It’s about sharing them, helping the next generation understand their significance and making sure the light continues to shine through the art, culture and values we pass on.”
Samaya is scheduled to perform at 12.20pm on Sunday, 1 November, on the Aotea Stage as part of the BNZ Auckland Diwali Festival.
The free festival, delivered by Tātaki Auckland Unlimited with support from Auckland Council Events, will take place on Saturday, 31 October, and Sunday, 1 November, across Aotea Square, Queen Street, Rutland Street and nearby venues.
The event will feature music, dance, art, workshops and activities for the whole whānau, alongside vegetarian food available to purchase.
For the full programme, visit aucklandnz.com/diwali.