This past Saturday, the Dakshina/Daniel Phoenix Singh Dance Company launched its 7th Annual Fall Festival of Indian Arts. That date, October 2, is the anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi’s birth, and Dakshina celebrated the occasion with a poetry reading from local spoken word artist, Gowri Koneswaran, and a classical Indian recital from sitarist Alif Laila. The festival continues this weekend, with two nights of dance on Friday and Saturday at U Street’s historic Lincoln Theatre.