Dancer Astad Deboo performed at the residence of Alphonsus Stoelinga, the Dutch ambassador in Delhi, as part of the celebrations for the coronation of King Willem-Alexander on April 30, 2013. He had been commissioned by the Embassy of The Netherlands to create a fusion dance for the occasion for which he went to Breda in Holland to work with two dancers of the De Stilte company. Later, he incorporated those moves into the choreography for members of his own dance company.
Astad Deboo interacting with Sonia Gandhi in Delhi
King Willem-Alexander, 46, the first king of The Netherlands in 123 years, was crowned after his 75-year-old mother Queen Beatrix stepped down following 33 years on the throne. Also present at the Delhi celebrations of this momentous occasion was Sonia Gandhi, president of the Congress party, to whom Deboo was introduced by the Dutch ambassador, the versatile dancer mentions in an email response to a query sent by Parsiana. Stoelinga brought Gandhi up-to-date about the work Deboo has been doing with street children who are now young adults as also with the deaf and the performing artistes of Manipur, the email notes.
The indefatigable Deboo was slated to participate in the first international conference of Spic Macay held in Calcutta from May 20-26, 2013. The organization is known for propagating Indian classical music, dance, painting, etc. The target audience is young teenagers in college for whom he planned a workshop. Later in the year, Deboo informed Parsiana, he plans to take his group to the prestigious festival of Cervantino in Mexico. The work he will perform there with the street children of New Delhi is titled Interpreting Tagore. They also plan to perform in other cities in Mexico before proceeding to Bogota, Columbia to dance there, mentions the email.