For over a decade, the US-based Battery Dance Company has developed cultural exchange programmes in the realm of dance and performing arts between America and other countries, thereby seamlessly fostering cultural outreach and mutual understanding. Jonathan Hollander - founder and choreographer of the company - has introduced American audiences to some of the highest components of Indian classical dance for many years. His earlier Songs of Tagore, Purush: Expressions of Man had made dance lovers sit up and take note.

The recent tour in India, starting with Mumbai, had its first performance at the Nehru Centre. The dancers pirouetted and moved lightly and gracefully on stage in a uniquely eclectic and highly original choreography inspired by worldwide sources, as was the accompanying music. Interestingly, the music is often commissioned for the individual pieces and also more often than not, performed live, whenever possible. The patterns move smoothly in harmony - not a single awkward moment blemishes the synchronised finish of the performance.

Hollander shares a fond connection with Mumbai. He had lived in the metropolis when at 16, he had arrived as an exchange student and stayed in the home of a local family. The city and the country wooed the young boy who subsequently returned to India several times with his battery dance company.

The sensitive choreographer has often been quoted as saying that 'the human condition, whether bleak or reverent is nothing if not shared'. Retaining the timeless values of commitment, innovation, community and honesty, he takes his dance ahead, with every new performance, every new rendition. At the same time, dedicating different performances to social causes in the countries he visits. It was but natural that he did the same here - the matinee performance in Mumbai was for the children of Akanksha and Pratham. His Moving Stories, indeed moved you, using dance as a vehicle of mutual understanding.