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Toronto on the Indus
Canadians in Toronto were recently introduced to the Indus Valley civilization. Designer Shaiyanne Malik and Pakistani-Canadian Mehreen Javed came together to present ‘The Colours of the Indus,’ a show tailor-made for foreigners, similar to the one they had performed a few years earlier. Initially, two designers from Lahore were also invited to come and share the catwalk, but when the Canadian authorities rejected their visas it became a solo showing. The choreography, direction and narration was by Sohail Malik as a host of Indo-Canadian models set the catwalk ablaze on a balmy summer evening.
Held at a quaint hotel, the show began with a personification of the river Indus in the impressive voice of Sohail Malik. Adnan, one of the male models, performed a dramatic presentation giving the audience an insight of what was to follow while the female models traipsed out in flowing outfits with unusual pieces of jewellery.
The show was divided into five different segments. In the Mohenjodaro segment, the famous dancing statue in bronze representing one of the oldest civilizations in the world came to life in the form of a mesmerizing dance performed by Madeline, a Canadian dancer of Indo-Asian origin, her mother hailing from Manila while her father is Goan.
The coming of Alexander the Great across the Khyber pass was again unusual as in this segment, Caucasian models represented the era with blue eyes and blonde hair, just as the Buddha sequence had boys and girls with typical Indian features. The most glamorous segment of the entire production was the Mughal era. Here, the bridal collection with intricate gold and copper embroidered ensembles sparkled on the catwalk as Trish, a dancer from Trinidad, entertained the audience with her delicate foot movements as she brought the splendour of the Mughal court alive with her superb rendition of the Khattak dance.
In stark contrast to this part steeped in history and culture was the last showing of modern Pakistan. Here the models seemed to enjoy themselves the most in trendy clothes walking to the beat of lively music. Some Canadians were surprised and commented that Pakistan was quite a modern country in contrast to what the western media has projected, as they watched the models walk on stage in bustiers and tube tops over tapered skirts and pants!
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