Classes to build and enhance the capacities of Black, Indigenous, Brown, LGBTQ, and Marginalized communities to resist and recover from harm and oppression
The Soul Survivor Sessions (SSS) is a series of communal learning experiences for Black, Brown, Indigenous, Marginalized, LGBTQ, and Femme folks focused to acquire skills in Personal Protection/Self-Defense, Home & Community Defense, Physical/Spiritual Conditioning, Stress Inoculation, Survival Skills, and Legal Self-Defense Knowledge. The guiding intent of the series is to hold space where participants can come to feel safer and more comfortable in their own skin and with their kin. Our classes are offered by BIPOC instructors with backgrounds in Security, Medicine, Faciliation, and Survival Skills.
SSS is a collaborative project of Black Star Club for Community Defense with the Ananya Dance Theatre’s Shawngrām Institute. We share a commitment to community-embedded artmaking and carework. The Shawngrām Institute is Ananya Dance Theatre’s space to create dance, practice, train, offer classes, hold dialogues, and host community events. Shawngrām, Bengali for resistance, describes our shared philosophy and our methodology for social justice performance. As we are able to gather safely, SSS sessions will be hosted inside the Institute.
Soul Survivor Sessions: Virtual Classes for December 2020
Foundations of Self-Defense and Community Safety: Saturday, December 5, 10am-3pm. In this session, you will learn about: (1) Core legal knowledge and state statutes about Reasonable Use of Force and self-defense in Minnesota – stay safe personally and legally. (2) Fundamental concepts for personal protection and community safety. (3) Key considerations for protecting yourself – like what constitutes an actual threat to your life and how to respond. (4) For those interested, we will talk about firearms and less lethal tools for self-defense. If you’re interested in getting your MN Permit to Carry with Cousin D, taking this course will be counted towards your qualification process. Location: Zoom Webinar with Black Star
Intro to First Aid & Street Medicine: Sunday, December 6, 1pm-5pm. In this session, you will learn about: (1) Key concepts and skills in First Aid. (2) Key considerations and situations you’ll encounter as a Street Medic or Community First-Responder. (3) Equipment to purchase for your own first aid and medical kits. (4) Opportunities to continue your education in First Aid/Street Medic skills. Location: Zoom Webinar with Femme Empowerment Project
Intro to Conflict De-escalation: Saturday, December 12, 10am-12pm. In this session you will learn about: (1) The essential skills needed to de-escalate conflicts to protect yourself and others. (2) Use role-playing and Q&A sections to test out and practice de-escalation skills in real time. (3) Gain an understanding of how to direct and communicate with security professionals to resolve conflicts. Location: Zoom Webinar with Sequeerity
Personal Protection Mindset (Situational Awareness): Sunday, December 13, 3pm-5pm. In this session, you will learn about: (1) How to make yourself a harder target for attackers and other harmful events. (2) The mindset and simple tools that security professionals use to stay safe. (3) Practices you can use to keep relaxed and build your tolerance to stress. Location: Zoom Webinar with Atlas Defense
We are pleased to release Air, the last of our four-part film series, Dastak, created by filmmaker Darren Johnson.
This spring and summer, we adapted Dastak: I Wish You Me, our new, evening-length work about home, belonging, and borders, to nature and public places. The Farsi word dastak means knockings, and the dance traces the knockings of global injustices on our hearts through four sections: Earth, Water, Fire, and Air.
Until we can meet you in live performance next year, we offer the spirit of those sections in four surreal dance films (below).
Viewers are welcome to download and share the films.
The Dastak films were created by Darren Johnson of Northern Dawn Media, choreographer Ananya Chatterjea, composers Spirit McIntyre and Dameun Strange, textual magicmaker Sharon Bridgforth, performers Chatterjea, Kealoha Ferreira, Alexandra Eady, Renée Copeland, Julia Gay, Lizzette Marie Chapa, Parisha Rajbhandari, Nakita Kirchner, Noelle Awadallah, Laichee Yang, Fei Bi Chan, and Alessandra Williams.
We are also grateful to Marcus Young, our collaborator of many years, and Emma Marlar, our production manager, for their support in the process.
Full credits are available at the end of each film.
Air was filmed at Indian Mounds Regional Park, St. Paul; Battle Creek Regional Park, Maplewood; and Coldwater Spring, Minnesota.
Fire was filmed along and near the Lake Street corridor of Minneapolis, and University Avenue, St. Paul, Minnesota.
Water was filmed at White Sands Beach, Mississippi River Gorge, and Coldwater Spring, Minnesota.
Earth was filmed at Coldwater Spring, Minnesota.
This project is supported by the National Performance Network (NPN) Documentation & Storytelling Initiative. The NPN Documentation & Storytelling Initiative is funded by the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation and the National Endowment for the Arts (a federal agency). For more information: www.npnweb.org
Dastak: I Wish You Me is a National Performance Network (NPN) Creation & Development Fund Project co-commissioned by the Skirball Cultural Center, Los Angeles, CA, in partnership with the Bates Dance Festival, Lewiston, ME, UtahPresents, Salt Lake City, UT, and NPN. The Creation & Development Fund is supported by the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation, The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, and the National Endowment for the Arts (a federal agency). For more information: www.npnweb.org
Dastak was made possible by the New England Foundation for the Arts’ National Dance Project, with lead funding from the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation and The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.
Dastak is being developed with support from the Urban Bush Women Choreographic Center Initiative funded by the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation and the Ford Foundation.
Production residency funded by the New England Foundation for the Arts’ National Dance Project with funding from The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.
Dastak is supported by Dance/USA Fellowships to Artists made possible with generous funding from the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation.
The development of Dastak was made possible, in part, by the Maggie Allesee National Center for Choreography at Florida State University.
Dastak is supported in part by the National Endowment for the Arts. To find out more about how National Endowment for the Arts grants impact individuals and communities, visit www.arts.gov.
Dastak is supported by a grant from the Marbrook Foundation.
Ananya Dance Theatre, in partnership with Dameun Strange, is a fiscal 2020 recipient of a Cultural Community Partnership grant from the Minnesota State Arts Board.
This activity is made possible by the voters of Minnesota through grants from the Metro Regional Arts Council and the Minnesota State Arts Board, thanks to a legislative appropriation from the arts and cultural heritage fund.
This video is a short summing up of all the events of the World Dance Alliance -Asia Pacific (WDA-AP) Yearly Event and the Ocean Dance Festival Bangladesh 2019 organised, simultaneously, by ‘Nrityajog’ – the Bangladesh Chapter of WDA-AP, from November 22 – 25, 2019 at Cox’s Bazaar.
Ananya Dance Theatre was honored to participate in response to the Festival’s invitation.
An asymmetrical distribution of power between the student and the teacher in the Indian arts — especially in the classical performing arts — makes this sphere vulnerable to incidents of sexual abuse, thereby rendering systemic reform not just crucial, but indispensable to the progress of the disciplines.
The following article includes mentions of sexual abuse. Reader discretion is advised.
As nonprofits, faith, civic, labor, community, and business organizations we are joining to call for election integrity and democracy. We stand united for a democracy of, by, and for the people. Every eligible vote must be counted.
Under the United States constitution elected officials are decided by the people through a free and fair election. In Minnesota and across the country voters turned out in record numbers to make their voices heard. We expected that results would not be clear on Election Day. Now is the time for patience. When all eligible votes are counted, democracy wins.
During this unprecedented pandemic, we recognize how much effort has gone into making our election system safe and accessible for voters. Despite challenges, voters across the country have made their voices heard. Every eligible vote must count. We thank all voters, elections staff, and volunteers for their participation. We come together as a united voice to encourage trust in our democracy and ensure every vote counts.
Organizational Signatories
AchieveMpls
Amherst H. Wilder Foundation
AMS Digital Productions
Ananya Dance Theatre
APAHC, CHI/RRFC
Arc Northland
ArcStone
Arts Roseville
Blueprint Campaigns
Breakthrough Twin Cities
Catholic Charities of St. Paul and Minneapolis
Center for Energy and Environment
Change Inc.
Chudgar Consulting
Climate Generation: A Will Steger Legacy
Como Community Council
Comunidades Organizando el Poder y la Accion Latina
Corvus North
Ebenezer
Ecolibrium3
EVOLVE Family Services
Forecast Public Art
Fresh Energy
Frogtown Connection
Gender Justice
Girl Scouts River Valleys
Goodwill-Easter Seals Minnesota
Grand Rapids Area Chamber
Great River Chidren’s Museum
Habitat for Humanity of Minnesota
Higher Education Consortium for Urban Affairs
Honor the Earth
Immigrant Law Center of Minnesota
ISAIAH (MN)
Italian Cultural Center of Minneapolis/St. Paul
James J. Hill Reference Library
Jewish Community Action
Joint Religious Legislative Coalition
Just The Pill
Kayd Foundation
Kulture Klub Collaborative
League of Women Voters of Minnesota
Let People Vote Bryant
Lifetrack
Lifeworks Services, Inc.
Lutheran Social Service of Minnesota
Main Street Alliance of Minnesota
Mary’s Pence
Merrick Community Services
Metropolitan Symphony Orchestra
Minnesota AFL-CIO
Minnesota Citizens for the Arts
Minnesota Community Action Partnership
Minnesota Council on Foundations
Minnesota Housing Partnership
Minnesota Humanities Center
Minnesota Interfaith Power & Light
Minnesota Nurses Association
Minnesota Parent Teacher Association
Mission Momentum LLC
Missions Inc. Programs
MORE
Mount Olivet Rolling Acres, Inc.
MUUSJA – MN Unitarian Universalist Social Justice Alliance
myHealth
National Association of Social Workers, MN Chapter
National Council of Jewish Women MN (NCJW)
National Youth Leadership Council
Neighbors, Inc.
New Americans Alliance for Development (NAAD)
Northside Economic Opportunity Network
OPEIU Local 12
OutFront Minnesota
Pillsbury United Communities
Planned Parenthood of Minnesota Political Action Fund
This spring and summer, we adapted Dastak: I Wish You Me, our new, evening-length work about home, belonging, borders, boundaries, and loss, to nature and public places. The Farsi word Dastak means knockings, and the dance traces the knockings of global injustices on our hearts through four sections: Earth, Water, Fire, and Air.
Until we can meet you in live performance next year, we offer (below) the spirit of those sections in four surreal dance films: Earth, filmed at Coldwater Spring, Minnesota; Water, filmed at White Sands Beach, Mississippi River Gorge, and Coldwater Spring, Minnesota; and Fire, filmed along and near the Lake Street corridor of Minneapolis, and University Avenue, St. Paul, Minnesota.
We will release Air here over the coming weeks.
Created by filmmaker Darren Johnson, choreographer Ananya Chatterjea, composer Dameun Strange, composer Spirit McIntyre, textual magic maker Sharon Bridgforth, and performers Noelle Awadallah, Fei Bi Chan, Lizzette Marie Chapa, Ananya Chatterjea, Renée Copeland, Alexandra Eady, Kealoha Ferreira, Julia Gay, Nakita Kirchner, Parisha Rajbhandari, and Laichee Yang.
We are also grateful to Marcus Young, our collaborator of many years, and Emma Marlar, our production manager, for their support in the process.
This project is supported by the National Performance Network (NPN) Documentation & Storytelling Initiative. The NPN Documentation & Storytelling Initiative is funded by the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation and the National Endowment for the Arts (a federal agency). For more information: www.npnweb.org
Dastak: I Wish You Me is a National Performance Network (NPN) Creation & Development Fund Project co-commissioned by the Skirball Cultural Center, Los Angeles, CA, in partnership with the Bates Dance Festival, Lewiston, ME, UtahPresents, Salt Lake City, UT, and NPN. The Creation & Development Fund is supported by the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation, The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, and the National Endowment for the Arts (a federal agency). For more information: www.npnweb.org
Dastak was made possible by the New England Foundation for the Arts’ National Dance Project, with lead funding from the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation and The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.
Dastak is being developed with support from the Urban Bush Women Choreographic Center Initiative funded by the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation and the Ford Foundation.
Production residency funded by the New England Foundation for the Arts’ National Dance Project with funding from The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.
Dastak is supported by Dance/USA Fellowships to Artists made possible with generous funding from the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation.
The development of Dastak was made possible, in part, by the Maggie Allesee National Center for Choreography at Florida State University.
Dastak is supported in part by the National Endowment for the Arts. To find out more about how National Endowment for the Arts grants impact individuals and communities, visit www.arts.gov.
Dastak is supported by a grant from the Marbrook Foundation.
Ananya Dance Theatre, in partnership with Dameun Strange, is a fiscal 2020 recipient of a Cultural Community Partnership grant from the Minnesota State Arts Board.
This activity is made possible by the voters of Minnesota through grants from the Metro Regional Arts Council and the Minnesota State Arts Board, thanks to a legislative appropriation from the arts and cultural heritage fund.
Ananya Dance Theatre supports the Kolkata Centre for Creativity’s first Annual Conference in Performing Arts “Performing Performance 2020,” that flags-off conversations on the theme, “Women in Performance.”
Discussions on September 4-5 will span two sub-themes: Body in Performance & Agency in Performance, and will feature keynote addresses by Lubna Marium and Dr. Ananya Chatterjea, artistic director, Ananya Dance Theatre.
Conversation panels will include Dr. Anuradha Kapur, Dr. Bishnupriya Dutt, Dr. Urmimala Sarkar, Zuleikha Chaudhuri, Dr. Trina Nileena Banerjee and Meghna Bhardwaj.
The event will provide space for the exchange of thoughts, research, experiments, and practices regarding gender identity and politics of body.
Ananya Dance Theatre’s Kealoha Ferreira & Alexandra Eady
Hello Community!
It was powerful linking arm-in-arm with you during the Uprising. As we grow in our practice of resistance and resilience we feel the time has come to offer Virtual Yorchhā Classes again!
Tues: Yorchhā Strong, 9-9:30am, Central Wed: Intro to Yorchhā, 6:30-7:30pm, Central Fri: Intro to Yorchhā, 6:30-7:30pm, Central Sun: Advanced Yorchhā, 3-4pm, Central
To participate, email kealoha.ferreira@gmail.com for the class link. Suggested donation of $10-20 per class.
Class Descriptions:
Yorchhā Strong- Join Ananya Dance Theatre artist, Alexandra Eady for a 30 minute movement practice of building and releasing heat through cardio, strength and mobility movements. This class is for all levels. Modifications and progressions will be offered so that all feel comfortable and safe participating.
Intro to Yorchhā- Envision justice through rhythmic footwork, flowing torso, and sustained breath in Intro to Yorchhā with Ananya Dance Theatre Artistic Associate, Kealoha Ferreira. Each class begins with a warm-up followed by foundational Yorchhā exercises and a fun choreographed phrase.
Advanced Yorchhā- Dive into the nuance and complexity of Yorchhā with Ananya Dance Theatre Artist, Alexandra Eady. Advanced Yorchhā, is designed to challenge and hone experienced movers through strength training, technique refinement, and intricate choreography. Previous Yorchhā experience is encouraged.
Yorchhā, is Ananya Dance Theatre’s trade marked contemporary Indian technique that intersects principles of Vinyasa Yoga, classical Indian dance form Odishi (from the eastern Indian state of Odisha) and martial art form Chhau (also from Odisha).
Liability Disclaimer: By participating in these virtual classes, you agree that Ananya Dance Theatre is not responsible for, and you hereby waive all claims for, loss, injury, or illness to person or property relating to your participation in dance classes and other activities sponsored by Ananya Dance Theatre.
Thank you, dear friends, for your vigilance and unyielding support.
Ananya Dance Theatre is in no danger of closing. Not from COVID-19, and not from vandalism. However, we must prepare for what the weekend may bring, and we must contend with many of the uncertainties and challenges that all of the performing arts face in the year ahead.
Stay with us as our information and path forward evolve.
This film by Rheannah Wynter and Chris Cameron captures the essence of those residencies, work with FSU Dance students, and research for “Fires of Lost Homes,” with dancers Kealoha Ferreira, Alexandra Eady, and Lizzette Chapa, and Sharon Bridgforth, writer, Spirit McIntyre, composer, the Florida People’s Advocacy Center, and the Southern Poverty Law Center. Our thanks to MANCC, Florida State University, and Urban Bush Women!
Full-length videos from Ananya Dance Theatre‘s repertoire will be available online for the duration of Minnesota Governor Tim Walz’s “stay-at-home” order.
Roktim: Nurture Incarnadine, 2015, will be available for viewing on Vimeo from 12pm CDT, April 3, through 8pm CDT, April 10: https://vimeo.com/148625810. Running time: 01:48:34.
Duurbaar: Journeys into Horizon, 2006, will be available for viewing on Vimeo from 12pm CDT, April 10, through 8pm CDT, April 17: https://vimeo.com/245678075. Running time: 01:17:56.
Moreechika: Season of Mirage, 2012, will be available for viewing on Vimeo from 12pm CDT, April 17, through 8pm CDT, May 8: https://vimeo.com/406989561. Running time: 01:25:55.
Sutrajāl: Revelations of Gossamer, 2019, will be available for viewing on Vimeo from 12pm CDT, April 24, through 8pm CDT, May 8: https://vimeo.com/410942082. Running time: 01:30:27.
Ananya Dance Theatre and the Shawngram Institute for Performance & Social Justice are re-framing classes for the remainder of Minnesota’s “Stay-at-Home Order” using two online platforms. Click here for details: http://www.ananyadancetheatre.org/about/classes/
To participate, send an email to kealoha.ferreira@ananyadancetheatre.org by 30 minutes before class time to receive an invitation link to join the online class.
On Facebook Live (www.Facebook.com/ShawngramInstitute/), we offer Yorchha Burst – shorter, midday movement for the whole family. Sometimes stretching, sometimes strength-building, sometimes a burst of new grooves.
By participating in these virtual classes, you agree that Ananya Dance Theatre is not responsible for loss, injury, or illness to person or property relating to your participation in these classes.
All classes at Ananya Dance Theatre’s Shawngram Institute for Performance & Social Justice have been cancelled for March 16-31. The March 28 dialogue, “Tracing Hmong Aesthetics,” has been postponed to a date TBD.
Dates: Monday-Friday, June 15-26, 2020, 9am-1pm (We recognize and continue to monitor the uncertainty of our times, and we will respond to changes in the environment if needed.)
There will be an informal showing on Friday, June 26 at 12pm and 6pm.
Ananya Dance Theatre’s Shawngram Summer Intensive is a 2-week training program in St. Paul, Minnesota (4 hours/day, 5 days/week). It will introduce Yorchha™, our unique movement aesthetic, in technique classes that build in complexity over 2 weeks, and our particular choreographic process of creating dance from the stories of our lives.
This program is part of Ananya Dance Theatre’s ongoing commitment to train next generations artists of color for professional engagement in dance.
This summer intensive embodies and enunciates our core principles: that moving and negotiating space with strangers, and connecting ourselves to our bodies and life stories through metaphoric movement, allows us to access experiences and power that have yet to be articulated.
Yorchha™ brings together movement principles from Odissi, the classical Indian dance technique, Chhau, the East Indian martial art, and Vinyasa Yoga.
For questions, please write to alexandra.eady@ananyadancetheatre.org
Washington, DC—Chairman Mary Anne Carter announced today that organizations in every state in the nation, as well as the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico, will receive federal funding for arts projects from the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) in this round of fiscal year 2020 funding. Overall, 1,187 grants totaling $27.3 million will provide Americans opportunities for arts participation, and this year include projects that celebrate the Women’s Suffrage Centennial.
The NEA recommended grants totaling $951,000 for 45 Minnesota organizations, including $10,000 for Ananya Dance Theatre and $15,000 for The O’Shaughnessy at St. Catherine University.
“The National Endowment for the Arts is proud to support grants throughout the entire country that connect people through shared experiences and artistic expression,” said Arts Endowment Chairman Mary Anne Carter. “These projects provide access to the arts for people of all abilities and backgrounds in both urban centers and rural communities.”
10-Cornered Stakes of Contemporary Dance-Making at Times of High Imperatives | by Ananya Chatterjea, artistic director
• The world in 2020 is a very different place from what it was when Ananya Dance Theatre was birthed 15 years ago.
• I enter 2020 with clarity about the stakes of my Contemporary Dance-Making.
• My imperative: To make dance move with relevance through the polarized devastation of the current world.
Sutrajāl: Revelations of Gossamer (2019) Photo by V. Paul Virtucio
1. Practice: The body is home. Practice movement with 100% integrity, allowing different intelligences to emerge in consciousness, grounding the kinesthetic, physical, and visceral as modes of making meaning. The physical practices of shared rhythm, non-verbal interaction, moving together in spaces, and asserting presence constitute a core methodology of dance.
2. Low-flying Relevancies: Connect with urgent, age-old currents within communities that emerge in new forms and grassroots movements. As cultural fault lines often precede policy shifts, think dance-making as manifesting the cultural codes within resistance movements on the ground. Dance for life and for justice. #occupydance.
3. Marma/Nerve-root: Old-fashioned as it may sound, dancing is meaningful, activated by and activating sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous systems. Hold stories as fragmented, abstract, inter-connected mosaics in the body, in ways that strike the nervous core of our shared humanity as acts of presencing, energetic, sense-drawings of a more just universe.
4. Parābāstab/Hyper-reality: Surrender to the surreal, absurd, and illogical connections, and the uncanny juxtapositions in choreographic structure that were core to Bengali folklore. Simultaneously, divorce daily logic as an organizing principle. This is our roadmap to an ecosystem undergirded by visions of equity.
5. Magic: Claim Maya, the dramatic and passionately magical charge of the universe, ever-shifting, refusing stabilization, forever spirit, forever multiple. And claim Emotion, not as a flat state of being, but as a portal to knowing self-in-community. It might not be entertaining; entertainment is not our goal, shared pleasure is.
6. Ākasmik/Metalogic: Reject conventional meanings and narrative arcs. Invite audiences to reflect on the world when emotions, events, and rhythms can turn on a dime, and indicate the striking possibilities that lie folded within the surface of the stage.
7. Time-Space Juxtapositions: As the dance of the universe is choreographed on multiple planes, reflect simultaneity, resonance and connectivity with winding, looping, and defiant time-space bendings. This is key to illuminating the intersectional, global, feminist space that shapes our contemporary understanding of the world.
8. Indrajāl/Extraordinary Networks: Reiterate the power and flow of feminine, not female, divine energy. Flex the infinitely extensible and tensile Love, Connectivity, and Intimacy. This is the culmination of lessons learned from women across the world who have taken on care-work, caring for entire communities, as modes of resistance.
9. Inquilab Zinabad/Long live the revolution: Riffing off of Freirean ideals, embrace performance, not just as rehearsal for revolution, but as offering vital clues to embody protest via ensemble work that still celebrates different phrase work. Make space for active, choice-filled witnessing, not accidental bystanding, so we can hold stories that do not find their way to the surface. #shawngramchoreographicmethodology
10. Refuse invulnerability: The closing of artistic vulnerability is the success of racism, and the success of the strong-woman-of-color-safety-device. Refuse the inevitable big finish, play with anti-beauty, make space for rage and fury, clear rhythm for grieving. Trace the work that is necessary in the room, in the community, in the world right now.
The Metro Regional Arts Council (MRAC), based in St. Paul, Minnesota, has awarded $806,429 to 84 organizations/projects in the first round of its FY 2020 Arts Project Support grant program. The MRAC board approved the grants at its Oct. 22, 2019 meeting.
Projects included funding for Ananya Dance Theatre’s Āgun, for which choreographer Ananya Chatterjea and her team of collaborators will create a full-length, original dance theater work for premiere at The O’Shaughnessy at St. Catherine University in St. Paul during September 2020.
The 84 funded projects will provide arts events and programs for Minnesotans of all ages to experience and enjoy arts in a variety of disciplines and at venues across the region. From theater productions to camps to classes and more, the Arts Project Support grants provide quality engagement with the arts at a variety of entry points.
The Arts Project Support grant program is made possible with funds from the Minnesota Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund of the Legacy Amendment.
Mid Atlantic Arts Foundation (MAAF) has announced over $183,000 in grant support to 20 ensembles and solo performers who will represent the United States at 24 different festivals around the globe through the first round of USArtists International (USAI) 2020.
Grantees include Ananya Dance Theatre for its October 2020 participation at the Bethlehem International Performing Arts Festival (BIPAF), Palestinian Territories.
BIPAF is one of the programs under the aegis of the Diyar Consortium, with roots in German Lutheran efforts in the 19th century to serve Palestinian Christians and people of all faiths. The Consortium was founded in 1995 as the International Center of Bethlehem.
USAI is the only national initiative in the United States solely devoted to supporting performances by American artists at important international cultural festivals and arts marketplaces abroad. USAI provides grants to ensembles and individual performers in dance, music, and theater, resulting in the promotion of international cultural exchange and the creative and professional development of U.S. artists. The program extends the reach and impact of professional artists dependent on touring for continued sustainability and career advancement. Since its inception in 2006, USAI has awarded over $7.27 million through 957 grants to 570 ensembles and solo performers.
Supported engagements promote the vibrant diversity of American artists, expand opportunity and exposure to international audiences, and enhance creative and professional development of U.S. artists by providing connections with presenters, curators, and artists around the world.
USAI grantees will travel to six continents. Grantees represent nine states and include a mix of emerging and established companies and soloists that showcase a diversity of styles within their artistic disciplines. Fourteen of the 20 grantees are new to the USAI program.
The USAI 2020 first round grantees are: Ananya Dance Theatre, MN: Bethlehem International Performing Arts Festival, Palestinian Territories; Axis Dance Company, CA: The Migros Culture Percentage Dance Festival Steps, Switzerland; Catalyst Quartet, NY: Contemporary Music Festival of Havana, Cuba; CornMaiz, KY: Westport Folk and Bluegrass Festival, Ireland; David Gonzalez Ensemble, NY: Hakawy International Arts Festival for Children, Egypt; Exhale Dance Tribe, OH: New Zealand Festival, New Zealand; fidget, PA: Antistatic Festival, Bulgaria; Gloria Cheng, CA: ASEAN Music Festival, China and Beijing Modern Music Festival, China; Kinetic Light, CA: Hong Kong Arts Festival: No Limits, China; Leonardo Sandoval & Gregory Richardson, NY: Tap in Rio, Brazil; Manual Cinema, IL: Santiago a Mil International Festival, Chile; MASAUKO, CA: Bassline Fest (Igoda Circuit), South Africa; Bushfire (Igoda Festival Circuit), Swaziland; and Zafiko Festival (Igoda Festival Circuit), South Africa; Meridionalis, NY: International Sacred Music Festival, Ecuador; Netta Yerushalmy, NY: Tel Aviv Dance, Israel; Roomful of Teeth, MA: Adelaide Festival, Australia and New Zealand Festival, New Zealand; So Percussion, NY: Cité de la Musique – Philharmonie de Pars’s Steve Reich Festival, France; Spektral Quartet, IL: Reykjavik Arts Festival, Iceland; Target Margin Theater, NY: Harare International Festival of the Arts (HIFA), Zimbabwe; The Bearded Ladies Cabaret, PA: CubaDupa, New Zealand and Performance Arcade, New Zealand; The Young Mothers, TX: Matik-Matik Festival, Colombia.
MAAF convened a panel via video conference on October 17, 2019 to review applications in dance, music, and theater. The panel consisted of experienced artists and arts professionals as well as lay-panelists. For a complete list of panelists, please click here.
About Mid Atlantic Arts Foundation Mid Atlantic Arts Foundation develops partnerships and programs that reinforce artists’ capacity to create and present work and advance access to and participation in the arts. The Foundation was created in 1979 and is a private non-profit organization that is closely allied with the region’s state arts councils and the National Endowment for the Arts. It combines funding from state and federal resources with private support from corporations, foundations, and individuals to address needs in the arts from a regional, national, and international perspective. To learn more about MAAF, its programs and services, visit our website at www.midatlanticarts.org.
About the National Endowment for the ArtsThe National Endowment for the Arts was established by Congress in 1965 as an independent agency of the federal government. To date, the NEA has awarded more than $5 billion to support artistic excellence, creativity, and innovation for the benefit of individuals and communities. The NEA extends its work through partnerships with state arts agencies, local leaders, other federal agencies, and the philanthropic sector. www.arts.gov
About The Andrew W. Mellon FoundationFounded in 1969, The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation endeavors to strengthen, promote, and, where necessary, defend the contributions of the humanities and the arts to human flourishing and to the well-being of diverse and democratic societies by supporting exemplary institutions of higher education and culture as they renew and provide access to an invaluable heritage of ambitious, path-breaking work. Additional information is available at www.mellon.org.
About the Howard Gilman FoundationHoward Gilman believed in the power of the arts to transform lives. The Howard Gilman Foundation honors his legacy by supporting the most robust, innovative, and promising performing arts organizations in New York City. howardgilmanfoundation.org
About the Trust for Mutual UnderstandingThe Trust for Mutual Understanding awards grants to American nonprofit organizations to support direct exchange in the arts and the environment between professionals from the United States and TMU’s geographic region: the Baltic States; Central Asia; Central, East, Southeast Europe; Mongolia; and Russia. www.tmuny.org
In the November 2019 Dance Magazine, Rachel Caldwell reports about how “touring with a message is not for the faint of heart,” and includes reflections from Ananya Chatterjea. Read the article here. Posted with permission from dancemedia/Dance Magazine.
For three days, Oct. 11-12, 56 artists and organizers from throughout the United States gathered in Minneapolis for the Cultural Community Benefits (CCB) Institute, based on the new ArtChangeUS CCBP Toolkit, edited by Cézanne Charles, a partner of ArtChangeUS.
Pangea World Theatre and Ananya Dance Theatre served as local hosts. Workshop sessions took place at the University of Minnesota’s Barbara Barker Dance Center and at Pangea.
The weekend allowed participants to connect across their specific areas of expertise and to dive deep into the strengths and growth points of the CCBP Toolkit.
The Cultural Community Benefits Principles (CCBP) Toolkit is designed to complement the Cultural Community Benefit Principles Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) template developed by ArtChangeUS. Produced in collaboration with Detroit cultural organizers, the principles are based on ongoing efforts to increase accountability and engender equitable practices across the spheres of public/private real estate development (especially large-scale projects that receive public support) and in the planning and staging of public events, gatherings, and convenings.
ArtChangeUS would like to acknowledge the work of Rise Together Detroit, a coalition of grassroots community organizations from across Detroit that formed to ensure that Detroiters have a seat at the table when it comes to development in Detroit, and that such developments are equitable and inclusive. RTD produced and led the campaign for Community Benefits Ordinance Proposal A on Detroit’s 2016 ballot. This resident- and community-led initiative challenged the institutional practices of real estate development in the City of Detroit, inspiring the work of the principles and this toolkit.
The goal of both the original principles and the toolkit is to offer the wider cultural sector a values-driven and pragmatic approach to building equitable relationships by shifting our field’s institutional practices. This toolkit brings together interviews, case studies, reflective prompts, and group activities to unpack and operationalize the principles.
Every organization operates in its own context; the lessons, practices, and information contained in this toolkit should be used to spur reflection, conversation and creative thinking around the CCBP. The principles ask us to address systemic injustice and structural sources of bias in society by supporting organizations to center and uplift the narratives, experiences, talents, and histories of marginalized people and groups through their cultural convenings, publications, discourse, and events.
Further, organizations are asked to confer and extend tangible economic benefits to those same communities where possible. Fundamentally, ArtChangeUS and its core partners believe that equity and anti-oppression processes are essential to creating and sustaining relevant, exciting, and influential cultural institutions that embrace difference and the nuances, complexities, and richness that this brings to society.
Foundations of Self-Defense and Community Safety: Saturday, December 5, 10am-3pm. In this session, you will learn about: (1) Core legal knowledge and state statutes about Reasonable Use of Force and self-defense in Minnesota – stay safe personally and legally. (2) Fundamental concepts for personal protection and community safety. (3) Key considerations for protecting yourself – like what constitutes an actual threat to your life and how to respond. (4) For those interested, we will talk about firearms and less lethal tools for self-defense. If you’re interested in getting your MN Permit to Carry with Cousin D, taking this course will be counted towards your qualification process. Location: Zoom Webinar with Black Star
Intro to First Aid & Street Medicine: Sunday, December 6, 1pm-5pm. In this session, you will learn about: (1) Key concepts and skills in First Aid.
Intro to Conflict De-escalation: Saturday, December 12, 10am-12pm. In this session you will learn about: (1) The essential skills needed to de-escalate conflicts to protect yourself and others. (2) Use role-playing and Q&A sections to test out and practice de-escalation skills in real time. (3) Gain an understanding of how to direct and communicate with security professionals to resolve conflicts. Location: Zoom Webinar with Sequeerity
Personal Protection Mindset (Situational Awareness): Sunday, December 13, 3pm-5pm. In this session, you will learn about: (1) How to make yourself a harder target for attackers and other harmful events. (2) The mindset and simple tools that security professionals use to stay safe. (3) Practices you can use to keep relaxed and build your tolerance to stress. Location: Zoom Webinar with Atlas Defense
