Audio Telepathy

India may have outgrown its image as a country of snake charmers, but a dancer will dance with a live snake around her neck at the Indian Festival of Lights at the Sugar Land Town Square Plaza on Sunday.

The belly dancer who goes by the name Soraya is not from India, but from Colombia and the Indian festival hosted by a local radio host has an international flavor.

While the show promises to highlight the glamorous Bollywood, the Indian counterpart of Hollywood, music, dance and lights will highlight the Indian culture through the eyes of some Western artists as well, says Sunil Thakkar, host of the radio program Music Masala, aired at 11 a.m. on station 1520 AM from Houston on weekends.

(Masala in the Indian language of Hindi means a hot mix of spices)

The Houston Grand Opera will present an exclusive number at the festival, Thakkar said.

Christopher Novosad, HGO's spokesman, said the festival will preview the Indian segment of The Refuge. The community piece will be presented with a piano, a sitar, a tabla and a tamboura. Six HGO studio soloists will be at the event and the Indian portion of the opera is approximately 18 minutes long.

The overall theme of the opera is that of a journey to Houston. The stories told are created from countless interviews with individuals who have immigrated to Houston.

The Nov. 10 world premiere at the Wortham of The Refuge, composed by Christopher Theofanidis and librettist Leah Lax and conducted by Patrick Summers, tells stories from Houston's six immigrant communities, including India.

Featured with his fellow artists will be Aaron Hermes of Houston, who is known for music and artwork at Free Range Studios, and who plays the sitar, drums and an array of percussive instruments.

Hermes learned how to play the sitar in 1997 after meeting instructor Srinivas Koumanduri. He later studied under Koumanduri's guru Pandit Atmaram Sharma, a master sitarist from Hyderabad, India. There, he also picked up santoor (the original Persian hammered dulcimer) from Pandit Shiv Kumar Sharma.

The Urban Gypsy group will present a tribal belly dance.

A series of dance numbers by students of Indian dance schools in the Greater Houston area will be an added attraction.

A fashion show of ethnic designs will feature Sugar Land Mayor David Wallace and his wife among the models.

Thakkar said a special lighting arrangement will literally rock the audience as light dances to the beat of music.

Several Indian restaurants will cater Indian cuisine.

The five-hour program will start at 5 p.m., Thakkar said.

For information, call 281-277-6874 or visit www.musicmasala.com. - Houston Chronicle