December 11, 2014
ADT's $5,000 Kickstarter campaign underway!
Ananya Dance Theatre is creating its new work, “Roktim: Nurture Incarnadine,” about women’s work with land, seed, food, and nurture. And we need your help to raise $5,000 to realize our vision!
We will present “Roktim” with multiple performances by 11 dancers at The O’Shaughnessy at St. Catherine University in St. Paul, in September 2015.
Women’s loving labor produces the elements of our sustenance. Women from global societies have also defended the land and eco-systems with their lives and their continued work, from the onslaught of aggressive industrialization. But the food system in which we exist often obscures these stories.
Ananya Dance Theatre Photo by V. Paul Virtucio
Inspired by the Seed Sovereignty Movement and farming practices in local communities of color, choreographer Ananya Chatterjea, visual artist Seitu Jones, and behavioral artist Marcus Young will partner with Frogtown Farm, Afro Eco, and the Indigenous Peoples’ Task Force to produce an evening-length story reflecting and honoring the age-old work of women who cultivate, nurture, and protect land and agriculture with emotional and blood labor to create a just and sustainable food system for our shared future.
“Roktim” is created to an epic vision and your support will allow us to fulfill these elements of our project: (a) Artist Seitu Jones will create a unique, interactive set that changes as dancers work with it to demonstrate our mutually shaping relationship with the eco-system we inhabit ($2,250); and (b) Our 11 dancers will participate in research at local farms, learning how women farmers work and sharing their stories. This time, in addition to regular rehearsals, will be essential for the project’s authenticity ($2,750).
“Roktim” is funded in part by The John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, as part of its Knight Arts Challenge, a community-wide contest funding ideas that engage and enrich Saint Paul through the arts.
We must match Knight Foundation’s $50,000 grant dollar-for-dollar. To-date, we have secured matching funds of $45,000. We invite your financial gift in any amount to help put us over the top and meet the match. Any amount raised over $5,000 will be used for dancers’ compensation.
Please help us meet the match and make this project happen!