Navam: The Nine Within 2026 in Dubai

Navam: The Nine Within brings storytelling, original poetry, live music and Kathak together for a Saturday morning performance at Live at Play, Warehouse B17 on ABA Avenue in Dubai’s Al Quoz. Created by Katha Sutra, the two-hour piece takes the nine rasas of Indian aesthetic thought and asks a personal question of each audience member: which of these nine emotional states lives most strongly in you?

Navam means “nine”, and the production is designed as a journey through those states rather than a lecture about them. In the creators’ words, the rasas are offered not as nine definitions to be explained, but as nine experiences to enter.

The nine rasas, briefly

Centuries ago, Indian aesthetic theory gave a vocabulary to the emotions that art can stir in an audience. The Navarasas, or nine rasas, are traditionally named as shringara (love), hasya (laughter), karuna (compassion), raudra (anger), veera (courage), bhayanaka (fear), bibhatsa (disgust), adbhuta (wonder) and shanta (peace). Classical dance and music in India have long been built around evoking them.

You do not need to know any of this before you arrive. Navam’s storytelling is in English and sets out the ideas as it goes, so the show works both for people who grew up with Kathak and for those meeting the rasas for the first time.

About Katha Sutra and the production

Katha Sutra describes its work as returning to inherited stories, ideas and artistic traditions through a contemporary lens, weaving together storytelling, poetry and music. Its tagline, “Where Lore Meets Loom”, fits the way Navam is put together. The company conceived the concept, built the narrative framework and developed the performance, rooting it in research while turning the tradition towards present-day lives. Navam is the company’s way of asking what these centuries-old ideas have to do with the lives we lead today, and of letting each audience member recognise something of themselves in every rasa.

The result moves between the classical and the contemporary, the profound and the playful, the familiar and the unexpected. The organisers have not named the individual performers, so the focus stays on the ideas and the art forms rather than on star names.

How the performance is woven together

• Storytelling in English carries the narrative and connects each rasa to everyday experience.
• Original poetry in Hindi gives voice to the different emotional states.
• Live music in Hindi and other Indian languages draws on Hindustani classical music, ghazal and bhajan traditions, as well as the poetry of the mystic poet Kabir.
• Kathak, the classical dance form rooted in storytelling, brings the rasas into movement.

Because the art forms are layered rather than presented one after another, the show plays as a single continuous experience. At around 120 minutes it is a full performance, but the morning timing means you still have the rest of the weekend ahead of you.

Who it suits

• Kathak and Indian classical music lovers who want to see the forms in an intimate setting.
• Hindi and Urdu poetry fans, especially admirers of ghazal and of Kabir’s verse.
• Theatre-goers curious about Indian aesthetics, who will find the English storytelling an easy way in.
• Families with teenagers interested in their heritage: the age policy is 12 and above, and children under 12 are not admitted.
• Anyone after a quieter, reflective weekend plan, with chai and conversation rather than a big-venue night out.

If performances like this are your thing, our art and culture listings and shows and theatre guide cover more dance, music and stage work in Dubai.

The morning at Live at Play

Doors open at 10:30am and the performance begins at 11am. Seating is unreserved and allocated on a first-come, first-served basis, so arriving when doors open gives you the best choice of seats. Chai and Indian street food are on sale at the venue, and guests are encouraged to stay on after the show for conversation, which suits a performance designed to leave you thinking.

Live at Play is at @play, Warehouse B17, 93 24B Street, ABA Avenue, in Al Quoz Industrial Area 2. The venue is wheelchair accessible. Parking within the venue is limited, with some spaces in the surrounding area, so the organisers suggest arriving early or using a taxi, ride-hailing app or public transport.

By car, the suggested route runs via Al Khail Road (E44), then 323 Road (Al Marabea’ Street, D65), then 26th Street; the organisers advise using GPS, as warehouse addresses in Al Quoz can be hard to find. By bus, take the 21B or route 84 to the Ducast Factory 1 stop, then walk for about four minutes.

Tickets must be shown for entry and are valid only for the stated date, time and event. They are non-refundable, but if you cannot attend you can exchange your ticket with another fan.

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