September 9, 2021

We're back onstage at The O'Shaughnessy, October 29-30 with Dastak: I Wish You Me!

General Admission Tickets on Sale Now: theoshaughnessy.com

Suggested Price $30 – PAY WHAT YOU CAN – $5 – $40

Photo by Isabel Fajardo

The O’Shaughnessy at St. Catherine University will present Ananya Dance Theatre and its new production, Dastak: I Wish You Me, Friday-Saturday, October 29-30 at 7:30pm. ASL interpretation will be provided on October 29.

Dastak is a meditation on borders, loss, belonging, home, and liberation, and is structured around four elemental journeys – Earth, Water, Fire, and Air.

The evocative work traces the “knockings” (dastakin Farsi) of global injustices and echoes the subtitle created by Sharon Bridgforth – I Wish You Me – amplifying the cross-generational love that has carried communities through difficult migrations. The production invites audiences to imagine what freedom is possible as it expands the realms of intention and trans-dimensional connection through spells that invoke rest, forgiveness, love, and freedom

Choreographed by Ananya Chatterjea and performed by the artists of Ananya Dance Theatre, Dastak features a powerful team of collaborators, including writer and dramaturg Sharon Bridgforth, sound artist Spirit McIntyre (performing live), stage director Marcus Young, lighting designer Kevin A. Jones, costume designer Annie Cady, scenic designer Chelsea Warren, and film maker Darren Johnson. 

The O’Shaughnessy at St. Catherine University is located at 2004 Randolph Ave. in Saint Paul. Tickets for Dastak are on sale at theoshaughnessy.com.

DASTAK:  I WISH YOU ME

Choreography: Ananya Chatterjea (Minneapolis) 

Sound score: Spirit Paris McIntyre (New Orleans) 

Spoken word: Sharon Bridgforth (Los Angeles) 

Stage director: Marcus Young (St. Paul)

Costume design: Annie Cady (St. Paul)

Scenic design: Chelsea Warren (Minneapolis)

Lighting design: Kevin A. Jones (Minneapolis)

The O’Shaughnessy’s Covid-19 guidelines can be reviewed here.

Ananya Dance Theatre is a company of cultural activists and BIPOC women, womxn, and femme artists who believe in the transformative power of dance. In dancing stories where lives and dreams occupy the center, ADT shifts the landscape of mainstream culture, builds understanding about arts and social justice, and empowers artistic voices. Meet the People of Ananya Dance Theatre here. 

Dastak is a National Performance Network (NPN) Creation & Development Fund Project co-commissioned by the Skirball Cultural Center, Los Angeles, in partnership with the Bates Dance Festival, Lewiston, Maine; UtahPresents, Salt Lake City; 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.

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.

August 23, 2021

Northrop Film Series presents Ananya Dance Theatre: Dastak – The Film

Premieres Fri, Oct 8, 2021, 7:30pm CT | Available on-demand through Oct 15, 2021

This event will go on sale Sep 7 at noon. Select your own price when purchasing ($0-$50). Tickets. 

This dance film of Ananya Dance Theatre’s work, Dastak, the Farsi word for “knockings,” traces the knockings of global injustices on our hearts in four short sections: Earth, Water, Fire, and Air. Each section is a meditation on stories of borders, boundaries, loss, belonging, home, and liberation, and echoes the subtitle created by writer Sharon Bridgforth – I Wish You Me – indicating the cross-generational love that has carried communities through difficult migrations.

Filmmaker Darren Johnson captures these elemental journeys against the varied landscape of MniSota Make, ranging from post-Uprising scorched ruins in Minneapolis to tall prairie grasslands of Battle Creek Park, as the dancers pay tribute to the layered history of this land. Choreographed by Ananya Chatterjea and performed by the artists of Ananya Dance Theatre, this dance film also features the work of a powerful team of collaborators, notably writer and dramaturg Sharon Bridgforth and sound artists Spirit McIntyre and Dameun Strange.

This event will be captioned, with other accessibility services available upon request.

May 20, 2021

We congratulate the 2021 McKnight Artist Fellows in Dance & Choreography

Ananya Chatterjea, McKnight Choreographer Fellow

Alanna Morris-Van Tassel, McKnight Choreographer Fellow

Darrius Strong, McKnight Choreographer Fellow

Alexandra Eady, McKnight Dancer Fellow

Hassan Ingraham, McKnight Dancer Fellow

David Stalter, McKnight Dancer Fellow

May 18, 2021

$12.6 million initiative offers new funding for Black, Indigenous, Latinx, and Asian American-led arts organizations

Black, Indigenous, Latinx, and Asian American-LedArts Organizations

May 18, 2020 – A $12.6 million regional initiative of America’s Cultural Treasures will provide new funding for Black, Indigenous, Latinx, and Asian American-led arts organizations. The funding, to be distributed in two phases, is made possible by a collaboration of the McKnight, Ford, Bush and Jerome Foundations.

Phase 1: Regional Cultural Treasures

$7 million, provided by Ford & McKnight Foundations

In phase one, ten arts organizations in Minnesota — designated Regional Cultural Treasures — each will receive unrestricted grants of at least $500,000, to be distributed over the next five years or more. The Regional Cultural Treasures program honors organizations that have made a significant impact on our cultural landscape over decades. The 10 organizations are:

• American Indian Community Housing Organization Arts Program
• Ananya Dance Theatre
• Indigenous Roots
• Juxtaposition Arts 
• Mizna 
• Pangea World Theater 
• Somali Museum 
• Theater Mu
• TruArtSpeaks 
• Walker|West

“We use the term ‘Cultural Treasures’ with intention, to honor the diversity of expression and artistic excellence that these organizations contribute to the cultural vitality of our state, despite having historically experienced under-investment,” said Tonya Allen, president of the McKnight Foundation. “As our arts institutions prepare to safely re-open after the pandemic, we’re thrilled to shine a spotlight on these remarkable organizations.” 

The following criteria informed the selection of the 10 Regional Cultural Treasures:

• Regionally recognized for stewarding and sustaining a cultural/aesthetic tradition rooted in a community of color;
• Regionally, nationally or internationally recognized for excellence in artistic/cultural practice;
• Has had a significant legacy of impact for more than one decade;
• Serves as a training ground for succeeding generations of artists and cultural leaders;
• Recognized as a critical hub for a larger network of allied organizations or efforts;
• Contributes to McKnight Foundation’s mission to advance a more just, creative, and abundant future where people and planet thrive.

The Minneapolis Foundation will administer the Regional Cultural Treasures grants.

Phase 2: Seeding Cultural Treasures

$5.6 million provided by Ford, McKnight, Bush and Jerome Foundations

In the second phase, the Seeding Cultural Treasures program will award grants to grow the future of Black, Indigenous, Latinx, and Asian American artists and cultural organizations in Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota, and the 23 Native Nations that share the same geography. 

“We believe that supporting established Black, Indigenous, Latinx, and Asian American-led organizations with impressive track records, as well as individual artists and younger organizations, will make our communities better places to live,” said DeAnna Cummings, McKnight Arts program director. “We also hope this funding catalyzes greater recognition and increased investment in these vital arts organizations and their leaders who are meeting this moment with imagination, persistence, and creativity.”

Propel Nonprofits and the Metropolitan Regional Arts Council will administer the program, engaging artists and community stakeholders to co-create it. These partners will share more information later in 2021 about how to apply for funding.

Funders Unite to Support the Arts

The Ford Foundation launched America’s Cultural Treasures in fall 2020, seeking regional funding partners throughout the country to match its contribution. In Minnesota, the McKnight Foundation answered that call to serve as the lead regional partner and matched an initial contribution of $5 million from the Ford Foundation. The Bush and Jerome Foundations contributed an additional $2.6 million to bring the fund to $12.6 million. Both programs invite additional funding partners to increase the resources for the arts and culture rooted in communities of color in our region.

“We’re thrilled to partner with the McKnight, Bush, and Jerome Foundations to celebrate arts organizations that are adding to the richness and diversity of the American cultural fabric,” said Darren Walker, president of the Ford Foundation. “These treasures are a symbol of the excellence present in Black, Indigenous, LatinX, and Asian American-led arts organizations and we hope to inspire continued investment in communities of color in the years to come.”

ABOUT REGIONAL CULTURAL TREASURES

American Indian Community Housing Organization Arts Program (AICHO) honors the resiliency of Indigenous people by strengthening communities and centering Indigenous values. Since 2012, AICHO has provided a year-round space within Gimaajii-Mino-Bimaadizim for Indigenous artists to showcase and sell their work. Galleries are used by artists, authors, and musicians for art shows, book releases, and performances, which are free and open to the community. AICHO’s arts and cultural programming also includes community art classes and workshops, youth art activities, Indigenous artists pop-up events and book readings, and an Indigenous First art and gift shop.

Ananya Dance Theatre (ADT) creates original dance theater drawing on social justice themes inspired by the lives and dreams of BIPOC women, womxn, and femmes from around the globe. In dancing stories where the struggles, triumphs, and transformations of global Black and Brown communities occupy the center, ADT empowers artistic voices, shifts the landscape of mainstream culture, builds relationships, and energizes communities toward equity and beauty. ADT’s Shawngrām Institute for Performance & Social Justice is located in St. Paul.

Indigenous Roots is an arts plus organization and coalition of artists, cultural groups, and community partners dedicated to building, supporting, and cultivating space, opportunities, and resources with and for Native, Black, Brown, and Indigenous peoples. In 2017, Indigenous Roots opened a space around Imniza Ska (East Saint Paul) that is centered and grounded in multidisciplinary, multigenerational, and multicultural arts and activism.

Juxtaposition Arts (JXTA), founded in 1995, is a youth employment center and community development social enterprise rooted in North Minneapolis. JXTA’s programs offer college-level training to teens through a core program known as JXTALabs, which annually employs 70 youth ages 14 to 21 in five revenue-earning art and design micro-businesses. The JXTALabs offer a wide array of high-quality art and design services to local and regional clients while developing the talents of young creatives.

Mizna is a critical platform for contemporary literature, film, art, and cultural production centering the work of Arab and Southwest Asian and North African artists. For more than 20 years, Mizna has been creating a decolonized cultural space to reflect the expansiveness of our community and to foster exchange, examine ideas, and engage audiences in meaningful art. Mizna publishes the only Southwest Asian and North African literary and art journal in the country; produces the Twin Cities Arab Film Festival; and offers classes, readings, performances, public art, and community events, which have featured more than 400 local and global writers, filmmakers, and artists.

Pangea World Theater illuminates the human condition, celebrates cultural differences, and promotes human rights by creating and presenting international, multi-disciplinary theater. Founded in 1995, Pangea’s innovative theater performances and arts-based community engagement transcends borders and brings audiences together at the intersection of politics, arts, and human rights to explore the relevant and often divisive themes of our times – racism, exile, immigration, freedom, and cross-cultural expression. 

The Somali Museum of Minnesota is the only museum in North America devoted to preserving traditional Somali culture and art. The museum’s mission is to educate young Somalis and to build bridges through culture to non-Somali Minnesotans. The museum offers an unrivaled collection of traditional artworks and serves as a unique meeting space for Somali artists. After civil war left almost all of Somalia’s museums destroyed and cultural artifacts spread across the world, the Somali community in Minneapolis rallied to make Minneapolis the home of Somalia’s precious cultural inheritance.

Theater Mu was founded in 1992 to bring Asian American voices to Minnesota stages and has grown to become one of the largest Asian American performing arts organizations in the nation. By producing great performances, community outreach efforts, and virtual programming born of arts, equity, and social justice from the heart of the Asian American experience, Theater Mu provides an unparalleled home for local and national Asian American artists and audiences of all backgrounds.

TruArtSpeaks is an arts and culture organization founded in 2006 and based in Saint Paul. Its mission is to cultivate literacy, leadership, and social justice through the study and application of Spoken Word and Hip Hop culture. The organization believes that art and culture – especially Hip Hop – inspires connection, growth, and social transformation. TruArtSpeaks provides development opportunities for youth, emerging artists and arts leaders through public events, direct mentorship, workshops, residencies, conferences, statewide initiatives, and more.

Walker|West was founded more than 30 years ago by African American musicians Rev. Carl Walker and Grant West to provide a space rooted in the cultural traditions they were raised with – where everyone can gather, grow, and explore through music. Walker|West provides music instruction and community programming for students of all ages – from infants to elders – and is committed to a future where everyone has access to the healing power of music.

ABOUT THE FUNDERS

The McKnight Foundation, a Minnesota-based family foundation, advances a more just, creative, and abundant future where people and planet thrive. Established in 1953, the McKnight Foundation is deeply committed to advancing climate solutions in the Midwest; building an equitable and inclusive Minnesota; and supporting the arts in Minnesota, neuroscience, and international crop research. The Foundation has approximately $2.4 billion in assets and granted $105 million in 2020.

The Bush Foundation invests in great ideas and the people who power them in Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota and the 23 Native nations that share the same geography. Established in 1953 by 3M Executive Archibald Bush and his wife Edyth, the Foundation supports organizations and people to think bigger and think differently about what is possible in their communities. We work to inspire and support creative problem solving – within and across sectors – to make our region better for everyone.

The Ford Foundation is an independent, nonprofit grant-making organization. For more than 80 years it has worked with courageous people on the frontlines of social change worldwide, guided by its mission to strengthen democratic values, reduce poverty and injustice, promote international cooperation, and advance human achievement. With headquarters in New York, the foundation has offices in Latin America, Africa, the Middle East, and Asia.

The Jerome Foundation was founded in 1964 by artist and philanthropist Jerome Hill (1905-1972). In honoring his legacy, it awards multi-year grants to vocational artists in all disciplines in Minnesota and New York City at early stages in their careers and to those nonprofit arts organizations that serve, develop and/or present such artists (whether through publication, exhibition, performance or screening). The Foundation centers its grantmaking practice in three core values of humility, innovation/risk, and diversity.

The Metropolitan Regional Arts Council’s mission is to improve arts access for communities in the seven-county metropolitan area through support to artists and organizations. We’re committed to advancing inclusion, diversity, equity and accessibility in all aspects of our work.

The Minneapolis Foundation drives collective action to realize strong, vibrant communities. The Foundation cultivates generosity by taking action on the greatest civic, social, and economic needs – partnering with nonprofits, facilitating grantmaking, driving research and advocacy, and providing services to donors seeking to make a difference in their communities.

Propel Nonprofits fuels the impact and effectiveness of nonprofits with guidance, expertise, and capital. This mission is in service to a vision of a diverse network of mission-driven nonprofits building a healthy, vibrant, and more just community. Propel is a federally certified Community Development Financial Institution (CDFI) and provides capacity-building services that include accounting and finance, board governance, fiscal sponsorship, lending, skills and knowledge sharing, strategic consulting, and training. Propel Nonprofits serves nonprofit organizations in Minnesota and the adjacent states of Iowa, North Dakota, South Dakota, and Wisconsin.

March 24, 2021

Composer Dameun Strange talks about life, music & Senegal on Documents of Our Times

Ananya Dance Theatre presents Sound Designer and Composer Dameun Strange in the second installment of its series, Documents of Our Times: Artists Talking Craft, Vision, Values, Inspiration, hosted by its Shawngram Institute for Performance & Social Justice. In it, Strange discusses the impact of a recent trip to Senegal and performs Senegal Rises.

The series, sometimes live, sometimes pre-recorded, and sometimes both, will be available on the company’s website and social media accounts: Vimeo, Facebook, and Twitter.

Recorded March 13, 2021 at the Shawngram Institute for Performance & Social Justice, Saint Paul, Minnesota. 47:01. Closed captioning available. © 2021 Ananya Dance Theatre.

Ananya Dance Theatre, in partnership with Dameun Strange, is a fiscal year 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 a grant from the Minnesota State Arts Board, thanks to a legislative appropriation by the Minnesota State Legislature; and by a grant from the National Endowment for the Arts.

March 9, 2021

University names Chatterjea as McMurrin Distinguished Visiting Professor

SALT LAKE CITY, UTAH, March 9, 2021–UtahPresents and the Office of Undergraduate Studies are pleased to announce that Dr. Ananya Chatterjea has been named the University of Utah’s Sterling M. McMurrin Distinguished Visiting Professor. 

Dr. Chatterjea is the founding artistic director of Ananya Dance Theatre and a Professor of Dance at the University of Minnesota, where she teaches courses in Dance Studies and technique.

The McMurrin Professorship

The McMurrin Professorship brings to the University a scholar of recognized eminence in his or her field. The purpose of this endowed chair is to raise the level of campus discourse and enrich undergraduate education in cooperation with a selected college or department each year. McMurrin Professors are expected to offer one or two public events and to be available to meet with undergraduate students and faculty.

The Residency 

Residency events with Dr. Chatterjea at the University of Utah include the Women’s Week Health & Wellness Workshop on March 12, 2021, at 10am MT. Dr. Chatterjea will also participate in the Gender-Based Violence Consortium’s Symposium (GBVC) on April 16, 2021, at 10am MT. Additionally, she is guiding Utah-based dance artists in a series of workshops to reconsider their creative practice. 

These events are an exciting precursor to Ananya Dance Theatre’s presentation of Dastak at Kingsbury Hall in February 2022. Historic journeys laden with hope, heart-break, and pain spark Dastak: stories of families torn apart, women assaulted and abandoned, and children tortured and lost during the partition of India in 1947, and again, with the recent escalation of violence along the India-Pakistan border, the current crisis around immigration at the U.S.-Mexico border, and the 150-mile forced march of Dakota people in 1862. Ultimately, Dastak becomes a meditation on footwork, migrations, and home through the contact of dancers’ feet with the floor and our ability to share rhythm and movement.

In addition to the performance at Kingsbury Hall, Dr. Chatterjea and the artists-activists of Ananya Dance Theatre will lead further residency activities at the University of Utah. 

Dr. Chatterjea’s Biography

Ananya Chatterjea is a 2011 Guggenheim Choreography Fellow, a 2012 McKnight Choreography Fellow, a 2016 Joyce Award recipient, a 2018 UBW Choreographic Center Fellow, and a 2019 Dance/USA Artist Fellow. Ananya is Professor of Dance at the University of Minnesota, where she teaches courses in Dance Studies and technique. She just published her second book, Heat and Alterity in Contemporary Dance: South-South Choreographies, re-framing understandings of Contemporary Dance from the perspective of dance-makers from global south locations.

February 19, 2021

Documents of Our Times: Artist conversation series launched

Ananya Dance Theatre has launched a new online and in-person (when possible) series, Documents of Our Times: Artists Talking Craft, Vision, Values, Inspiration, hosted by its Shawngram Institute for Performance & Social Justice.

The series, sometimes live, sometimes pre-recorded, and sometimes both, will be available on the company’s website and social media accounts: Vimeo, Facebook, and Twitter.

First-up in the series is a discussion with artists Orlando Zane Hunter, Jr. and Ricarrdo Valentine from Brother(hood) Dance (Hunter has performed with ADT during the past decade):

Recorded February 13, 2021 at the Shawngram Institute for Performance & Social Justice, Saint Paul, Minnesota. 26:35. Closed captioning available. © 2021 Ananya Dance Theatre

February 18, 2021

Chatterjea honored with Anderson Center's A.P. Anderson Award

Ananya Chatterjea. Photo by Nora Chian

February 4, 2021

NEA grants to Ananya Dance Theatre, 37 other Minnesota organizations

The National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) announced the first round of recommended awards for fiscal year 2021 totaling $27,562,040. Supported projects span 14 artistic disciplines in communities throughout the United States. Also included in this announcement are the recipients of NEA Literature Fellowships in creative writing and translation and support for arts research projects.

The NEA made awards to 38 projects in Minnesota, including Ananya Dance Theatre. Nationwide, 99 grants were made in the dance discipline.

“The creativity and resilience of artists and arts organizations across the country have inspired Americans during this challenging year,” said Arts Endowment Acting Chairman Ann Eilers. “These projects represent the vitality and perseverance of arts organizations small and large to overcome significant challenges, transform to new ways of engagement, and forge new relationships that benefit the diverse populations in neighborhoods and cities throughout the United States.”

• Click here to view a state-by-state listing of all the grants announced in this release.
• Click here to view a listing of awards by discipline / grant category
• Click here for a list of the panelists who reviewed the applications for funding

The Grants for Arts Projects (GAP) awards range from $10,000 to $100,000 and cover these artistic disciplines: Artist Communities, Arts Education, Dance, Design, Folk & Traditional Arts, Literary Arts, Local Arts Agencies, Media Arts, Museums, Music, Musical Theater, Opera, Presenting & Multidisciplinary Works, Theater, and Visual Arts.

In February 2020, the agency received 1,674 eligible GAP applications requesting more than $82.4 million in FY 2021 support. Approved for funding are 1,073 projects totaling nearly $25 million, with grants recommended to 64% of all applicants and an average grant amount of $23,190. Grant guidelines and upcoming application deadlines are now available on the Arts Endowment website for organizations wishing to apply.

The Arts Endowment is committed to diversity, equity, inclusion, and fostering mutual respect for the diverse beliefs and values of all individuals and groups. Part of this commitment includes our partnership with the White House Initiative on Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs). Outreach to develop relationships and help HBCUs navigate funding opportunities has led to an increased number of applications from and involving HBCUs. A few Grants for Arts Projects examples of successful applications from this round of funding include:

• A $20,000 award to National Black Arts Festival in Atlanta, Georgia, to support the Move/Dance! Program in partnership with Atlanta Public Schools and Spelman College, which will virtually engage students in the appreciation of Black dance in America.
• A $15,000 award to Illinois State University to support outreach to HBCUs and the publication of Obsidian: Literature & Arts in the African Diaspora. With the aim of growing its readership and cultivating new voices, Obsidianplans to offer online literary programming at HBCUs across the country.
• A $25,000 award to Coalition for African Americans in the Performing Arts to support a master class series for aspiring classical music singers. The project will take place at several historically Black colleges and universities such as Morgan State University in Baltimore, Maryland; Spelman College in Atlanta, Georgia; and Virginia State University in Petersburg, Virginia.
• A $20,000 award to Josephine Sculpture Park in Frankfort, Kentucky, to support an artist residency program for visual artists and related public programming. Artists will engage local rural audiences and a partnership with Kentucky State University will enable students to engage with the residency program as interns and volunteers.
• A $100,000 award to Arts and Humanities Council of Tuscaloosa in Tuscaloosa, Alabama to support the pARTners Project. The goal of the initiative is to increase access to arts education for students in West-Central Alabama, with a special focus on preK-12^th grade students in rural areas, by creating a strategic plan, providing arts integration programs to schools, including developing curriculum and training teachers. Teaching artists will be recruited for participation from local colleges and universities such as Stillman College.

The National Endowment for the Arts will award $1.2 million in FY 2021 Literature Fellowships to creative writers and translators. This includes 35 Creative Writing Fellowships of $25,000 each. These FY 2021 fellowships are in poetry and enable the recipients to set aside time for writing, research, travel, and general career advancement. In addition, the Arts Endowment approved $325,000 in fellowships to 24 translators to translate works from 16 languages and 19 countries into English. Click here to take a more in-depth look at these fellowships and other Literary Arts grants this round.

The National Endowment for the Arts also offers two funding opportunities for research projects. This year marks the tenth anniversary of grants for arts research, a program currently known as Research Grants in the Arts. For FY 2021, 14 organizations are recommended for Research Grants in the Arts totaling $833,000. In addition, five NEA Research Labs are recommended for funding totaling $645,790. Transdisciplinary research partnerships grounded in the social and behavioral sciences will examine and report on the benefit of the arts in non-arts sectors. Click here to explore more about the recommended arts research awards.

Many supported projects are currently working in a virtual space. This is also true for the panel process. Once applications are submitted to the agency for consideration and staff have reviewed them for eligibility and completeness, a panel of dedicated experts with knowledge and experience in their field review and score each application in accordance with the published review criteria. Recommendations are then made to the National Council on the Arts. The council makes recommendations to the Chairman, who makes the final decision on all grant awards. The Arts Endowment assembles diverse panels every year with regard to geography, race and ethnicity, and artistic points of view. To learn more about the process or to volunteer as a panelist.   

About the National Endowment for the Arts

Established by Congress in 1965, the National Endowment for the Arts is the independent federal agency whose funding and support gives Americans the opportunity to participate in the arts, exercise their imaginations, and develop their creative capacities. Through partnerships with state arts agencies, local leaders, other federal agencies, and the philanthropic sector, the Arts Endowment supports arts learning, affirms and celebrates America’s rich and diverse cultural heritage, and extends its work to promote equal access to the arts in every community across America. Visit arts.gov to learn more.

January 5, 2021

Ananya Dance Theatre's online classes resume in the new year on January 8

Online dance classes by Ananya Dance Theatre’s Shawngram Institute for Performance & Social Justice will resume on Friday, January 8.

Class Schedule:
Tuesdays: Yorchhā Strong, 9am-9:30am CST
Wednesdays: Intro to Yorchhā, 6:30pm-7:30pm CST
Fridays: Intro to Yorchhā, 6:30pm-7:30pm CST
Sundays: Advanced Yorchhā, 3pm-4pm CST

For class descriptions and other information, please visit our class page.

November 30, 2020

Soul Survivor Sessions: Self-Defense Classes for Communities of Resistance

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, 2pm-5pm. 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

To register: https://blackstarmn.square.site

November 14, 2020

Ananya Dance Theatre releases "Air," 4th film in "Dastak" series

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.

November 11, 2020

Re-visiting the Ocean Dance Festival Bangladesh 2019

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.

November 9, 2020

Sexual harassment in the arts, traumas buried in the past

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.

Continue reading full article here.

FirstPost.com, November 9, 2020

November 5, 2020

Minnesota nonprofits call for trust in our democracy

November 05, 2020

 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
• PRISM
• Project for Pride in Living, Inc.
• Reviving the Islamic Sisterhood for Empowerment
• SEIU Healthcare Minnesota
• Sewa-Aifw
• Sherburne History Center
• SHIFT
• Southside Family Nurturing Center
• Springboard for the Arts
• Stillwater Express Solutions
• Support Within Reach
• TakeAction Minnesota
• Tapestry Folkdance Center
• The Alliance for Metropolitan Stability
• The BrandLab
• The Family Partnership
• The Lift Garage
• The Link
• The Mobius Group
• Theater Mu
• Three Rivers Community Action
• Touchstone Mental Health
• Twin Cities Medical Society
• Twin Cities Pride
• UFCW Local 1189
• Union of Concerned Scientists
• United Way of Steele County
• Urban League Twin Cities
• Vienna Community Arts
• VocalEssence
• Walk-In Counseling Center
• Whole Woman’s Health Alliance
• Women’s Foundation of Minnesota
• WoMN ACT
• Working America, AFL-CIO
• Youthprise
• YWCA Mankato

October 28, 2020

ADT releases three "Dastak" films

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.

October 20, 2020

Hacking the Syllabus: Critical Solidarities with Ananya Chatterjea & Thomas F. DeFrantz

ASIA SOCIETY, NEW YORK, October 19, 2020 — Dr. Ananya Chatterjea, choreographer, dancer, and professor of theatre arts and dance at the University of Minnesota, delivers her lecture How Do We Dance Now? Moving in Alignment with the Uprising. Following her address, she was joined in conversation Dr. Thomas F. DeFrantz, professor in the Department of African and African American Studies and the Dance Program at Duke University. The event featured introductory remarks by Sarah McCaffery, manager of interdisciplinary arts at Asia Society. (1 hr., 7 min.)

Hacking the Syllabus: Critical Solidarities is a three-part series that shares powerful perspectives of educator-activists and resources they’ve created, syllabi, to equalize access to knowledge and disseminate paths for learning. The series explores building solidarities, including Asian and Black racial alliances, through an intersectional lens and covers various disciplines, including dance, feminism, and Asian American studies.

September 2, 2020

Chatterjea keynotes Women in Performance 2020

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.

For details, please visit: https://pages.razorpay.com/annualconference.

Time

6 – 8 pm IST

Fees

Daily Pass – Rs. 300 per day

Two day – Rs. 500

For students (Two Day) – Rs. 300

Note

After payment you’d be redirected to a google form link where it’s mandatory to fill the details to make your participation authentic.

The link for google form – https://rb.gy/teximm

Contact

Call: +919674140905 (between 10 am – 7 pm)

Email: kcc@akst.org.in

August 8, 2020

ADT's Shawngram classes continue online

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.