How an indigenous style of acrobatic hip hop has travelled to global shows

Mumbai dancers fuse lyrical hip hop and b-boying with elements of American cheerleading and trapeze-esque bits from the circus

Some evenings, it feels like there is more than one celestial being at the Chandika Devi Mandir in Mumbai’s sleepy suburb, Naigaon. In a temple hall usually reserved for religious rites and functions, members of a group of dancers fling each other skywards, achieving elevations of about 10 feet at times. Other dancers up front create a screen of sorts to distract onlookers from less appealing aspects of the stunts — the strides in a run-up or the huddles formed for a boost. In contrast to the genuflection and pealing bells outside, within the damp brick-and-tin walls of this auditorium,