With emphasis on foot tapping, the Russian and Spanish folk dancers performed on a wooden floor for effect. Dressed in colourful gypsy attire, Raya and her daughter Natasha were accompanied by Goran, Aleco and Nikak on guitar.

Raya and Natasha sang along as they presented the Russian gypsy dance, ``Gypsy fusion''. Iris, a German folk dancer gave a solo performance of Flamenco, a folk dance of Spain, which seemed simliar to Kathak.

``The only difference is that Flamenco is not expressive like Kathak, though it has definite foot steps and rhythm structure,'' said Flamenco dancer Iris. This was her second performance in India. Earlier, Iris had given a Kathak performance at Ayodhya a few years back.

Having a Russian origin, the gypsy dance is said to have North Indian roots too, as the gypsies migrated from India about two thousand year back.

The lead dancer and singer Raya has been associated with Romani Theatre at Moscow as an actress and a director. She has performed world wide and released her first CD on gypsy music recently.

The dance and music programme was organised by Indian Institue of Romani Studies and sponsored by the Anandpur Foundation.