Aahvaan is conceived and created by choreographer Ananya Chatterjea with collaborating director, behavioral and social practice artist Marcus Young, and the dancers of the company. Recorded scores are composed and arranged by Greg Schutte in collaboration with Mankwe Ndosi, Laurie Carlos, Pooja Goswami Pavan, Dorene Waubanewquay Day, and Michelle Kinney. Click for tickets.
Scenography: Anne Henly with Annie Katsura Rollins; Lela Pierce
Costume Design: Annie Katsura Rollins with Annie Cady
Production Management: Josina Manu Maltzman; assistance: Emma Marlar
Commissioned for the grand opening of the Ordway Concert Hall, Aahvaan: Invoking the Cities is structured uniquely in two major acts. Supported by layers of recorded and live music, this epic, full-length dance theater piece weaves together images inspired by the rich history of indigenous communities on this land, the diversity of communities who now call the Twin Cities home, our rich legacy of water, the vicissitudes of urban life, and artistic innovation.
Act 1 begins when audience members walk into the Ordway and are invited to participate in five simultaneous performance installations inspired by histories, stories, and energies of communities in the Twin Cities and Minnesota.
ACT 1
EMPRESS OF WHIMSY AND FORTUNES
Hui Niu Wilcox
SCORE: Greg Schutte
LIFE FORCE
Camille Horstmann, Lydia Jones, Nakita Kirchner, Suzette Gilreath, Aemoni Dancy, Fiona Steen, Totianna Howard (young dancers from Saint Paul Conservatory for Performing Artists) with Brittany Radke
The Kri Foundation has granted a fellowship to Ananya Chatterjea, ADT’s artistic director, to take part in an Intensive Artistic Residency in the Mayurbhanj style of Chhau, the martial art form that is part of Ananya Dance Theatre’s Yorchha technique.
Chatterjea will study for 10 days with Guru Sadashiv Pradhan, senior guru and lecturer at Utkal University in Bhubaneshwar.
On Minnesota Public Radio’s The Daily Circuit, Jan. 20, 2015, participants talked about how the Twin Cities arts community has engaged with the dialogue around race in recent months.
Sarah Bellamy & Ananya Chatterjea on MPR
Ananya Chatterjea, founder and artistic director of Ananya Dance Theatre, Sarah Bellamy, co-artistic director of Penumbra Theater, and Shá Cage, Twin Cities interdisciplinary artist,
joined the discussion and brought up what they’re seeing in the most recent reactions to national stories like Ferguson. Bellamy said you can look at protests as a form of artistic performance.
One answer to the question, “What happens when the river flows into the ocean?” was expressed when 86 people, cheered by a cast of hundreds, donated $5,210 over 35 days to ADT’s Kickstarter campaign. The campaign began December 11, 2014, and ended January 15, 2015, after reaching 104% of its $5,000 goal.
The raised funds will support creation of ADT’s new work, “Roktim: Nurture Incarnadine,” about women’s work with land, seed, food, and nurture. Funds also secure the final matching dollars for a grant from 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.
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.
ADT will present “Roktim” with multiple performances by 11 dancers at The O’Shaughnessy at St. Catherine University in St. Paul, in September 2015.
New York, NY – Ananya Dance Theatre will perform excerpts of work at an open rehearsal and at the Sheffield Global Arts Management 2015 Associated Performing Arts Presenters (APAP) Dance Showcase. The open rehearsal will take place at Manhattan Movement & Arts Center, Studio 5, Sat., Jan. 10, at 1pm; the showcase will take place at The Ailey Studios, The Joan Weill Center for Dance – Studio 1B, Sun., Jan. 11, at 9:15pm.
Ananya Dance Theatre: People Powered Dances of Transformation will showcase as a roster artist with Sheffield Global Arts Management for its inaugural APAP Dance Showcase. ADT will perform Mohona/estuary: Poisoned Waters, excerpts of three water stories told through contemporary Indian dance: I didn’t mean to drown, reflecting women’s desperation and suicide by drowning; Chalchiuhlicue’s Rage, the story of the Aztec goddess of water; and Chemical Lawns, on the subject of chemical and industrial pollution.
Both events are free of charge. Reservations are highly recommended.
Open Rehearsal Location: Manhattan Movement and Arts Center, Studio 5, 248 West 60th Street, New York, NY 10023. Transit: 1, A, C, B, D trains to 59th St./Columbus Circle, M57 bus cross-town to West End Avenue.
Showcase Location: The Ailey Studios, The Joan Weill Center for Dance, Studio 1B, 405 West 55th Street @ 9th Avenue, New York, NY 10019. Transit: 1, A, C, B, D trains to 59th St./Columbus Circle, N, R, Q, to 57th St. (at 7th Avenue), C, E trains to 50th St. (at 8th Avenue), M57 bus cross-town to 9th Ave., M11 bus to 55th St. & 9th Ave.
Ananya Dance Theatre, a contemporary Indian dance company comprised of women artists of color, describes its artists as cultural activists, working through dance and artistic processes to engage audiences, build community, and move toward justice and beauty. www.ananyadancetheatre.org
Sheffield Global Arts Management represents emerging dance artists and dance companies with a focus on women and people of color. SGAM is committed to having dance accessible to all communities and have diverse cultures represented on the stage as well as in the audience.
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!
In the week leading to the performance, Artistic Director Ananya Chatterjea and the dancers introduced contemporary Indian dance and the interpretation of abstract, metaphoric dance to students and adults at 11 class, workshop, and presentational settings organized by staff of the Historic Holmes Theatre.
Detroit Lakes Middle School, Detroit Lakes MN
Classes and workshops took place in several of the Detroit Lakes public schools for 4th, 5th, 6th, middle, and high school grade levels; at two community dance studios; at a senior citizen residence; at a water aerobics class at the Detroit Lakes Community & Cultural Center; and at the White Earth Nation.
Artistic Director Ananya Chatterjea spoke about dance and social justice to a luncheon meeting of the Detroit Lakes Rotarians. She and Brittany Radke, a company dancer and native of Detroit Lakes, participated in radio interviews on two stations.
Through the good offices of Amy Stearns, executive director of the Detroit Lakes Community & Cultural Center and Historic Holmes Theatre, and her staff, members of Ananya Dance Theatre connected in person with a significant segment, 11%, of the area’s year-round population of 8,500 people. The Rotary Club luncheon provided for an intimate and personal conversation with members of the community.
This was Ananya Dance Theatre’s first performance and extended series of residency activities in a smaller community anywhere, and in the state of Minnesota outside of the Twin Cities.
Public Events:
5th Grade Dance Class Workshop – Lake Park Audobon Elementary School – 60 attendees
Circle of Life Academy, White Earth Nation
6th Grade Dance Class Workshop – Detroit Lakes Public Schools – 55 attendees
Dance Movement Workshop – Summit Dance Studio – 15 attendees
Rotary Club Luncheon – Presentation – 75 attendees
Dance Movement Workshop – Circle of Life Academy, White Earth Nation – 50 attendees
5th Grade Dance Class Workshop – Detroit Lakes Middle School – 125 attendees
Dance Movement Workshop – Northern Lights Dance Studio – 75 attendees
Radio Interviews – KDLM AM & Wave 104 FM – 1,000 (?) listeners
Water Aerobics Dance Movement Class – Detroit Lakes Community & Cultural Center – 55 attendees
Movement Class – Oak Crossings Senior Community – 75 attendees
4th Grade Dance Class Workshop – Roosevelt Elementary School – 125 attendees
Ananya Dance Theatre’s performance and residency activities were made possible, in part, by the voters of Minnesota through grants from the Lakes Region Arts Council and the Minnesota State Arts Board, thanks to a legislative appropriation from the Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund.
Ananya Dance Theatre announces the second installment of a multi-year series of full-length dances exploring the kinds of work that women around the world do to sustain their communities. This second piece 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. Titled ROKTIM, it will premiere at The O’Shaughnessy on the campus of St. Catherine University in Saint Paul in September 2015.
Dennis Scholl, Knight Foundation Vice President / Arts, presenting Ananya Chatterjea a St. Paul Knight Arts Challenge Award • Sept. 29, 2014
To tell the story of women’s roles in the global food system, 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 reflect and honor the age-old work of women who cultivate, nurture and protect land and agriculture. The work will employ contemporary Indian dance to weave together artistic process and social justice in telling the stories of those whose often-unacknowledged labor sustains communities.
Roktim will include an original sound-and-music score by Greg Schutte, Chatterjea’s longtime collaborator.
Young helped direct Ananya Dance Theatre’s two most recent productions, Neel: Blutopias of Radical Dreaming (2014) and Mohona: Estuaries of Desire (2013). Chatterjea recently collaborated with Jones on Create: The Community Meal, a multi-media public artwork that included an outdoor civic dinner served to 2,000 people on a half-mile long table. Earlier, Jones designed the sets for Duurbaar: Journeys Into Horizon in 2006.
“The arts are an important way to examine the stories and histories that shape our society. We expect that Ananya’s production, which involves some of the city’s leading artists, will provide an important lens for exploring this issue,” said Dennis Scholl, vice president of arts for Knight Foundation.
About The John S. and James L. Knight Foundation
Knight Foundation supports transformational ideas that promote quality journalism, advance media innovation, engage communities and foster the arts. The foundation believes that democracy thrives when people and communities are informed and engaged. For more, visit KnightFoundation.org.
Ananya Dance Theatre is honored to receive a commission from The Ordway Center for an original, evening-length work as part of Rock The Ordway, a 22-day celebration of the Center’s new Concert Hall in downtown St. Paul.
The performance, “Aahvan: Invoking the Cities,” will be a presentation of the Arts Partnership: The Ordway, Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra, Minnesota Opera, and The Schubert Club, Wednesday, March 11, 2015, at 7:30pm.
Backed by layers of live and recorded music, this epic, full-length dance theater piece exudes extraordinary images that weave together our rich legacy of water, the relationship of our people to the land, the diversity of local communities, and our artistic innovation.
To kick off its 10th anniversary season, Ananya Dance Theatre will present Neel: Blutopias of Radical Dreaming, a multi-disciplinary immersion in the work and world of women’s dreams. The world premiere launches a multi-year series of full-length dances exploring the kinds of work that women around the world do to sustain their communities. Neel will be on stage at The Cowles Center for Dance and the Performing Arts, 528 Hennepin Avenue, in downtown Minneapolis. Performances take place at 8pm on Thursday, September 18; Friday, September 19; and Saturday, September 20. There will be a post-show discussion on Friday, September 19.
Ananya Chatterjea, artistic director, Ananya Dance Theatre, delivered a talk, April 27, 2014, at a TEDx event at Northrop Auditorium at the University of Minnesota, produced independently of the TED Conferences:
What is the potential of dance to demonstrate social injustice? To unleash latent energy? In this talk, combined with powerful live and video performances by Ananya Dance Theatre, Chatterjea shows us how dance can provoke hope and help us surpass our own potential.
About TEDx: x = an independently organized event In the spirit of ideas worth spreading, TEDx is a program of local, self-organized events that bring people together to share a TED-like experience. At a TEDx event, TEDTalks video and live speakers combine to spark deep discussion and connection in a small group. These local, self-organized events are branded TEDx, where x = independently organized TED event. The TED Conference provides general guidance for the TEDx program, but individual TEDx events are self-organized.* (*Subject to certain rules and regulations.)
The Minnesota Coalition Against Sexual Assault held its 8th annual AWARE celebration, Tue., April 29, at the Kelly Inn in St. Paul. The event is an opportunity to educate the community about sexual violence, acknowledge individuals and organizations that have played a key role in working to end sexual violence, and to focus our attention on the growing call for an investment in prevention.
Dr. Ananya Chatterjea, artistic director of Ananya Dance Theatre, will moderate a Moving Dialogs: Global Exchange event at Chicago's Soham Dance Space, May 1, 2014, and penned these thoughts to prime that conversation.
Ananya Chatterjea and company members from Ananya Dance Theatre will teach daily technique class in the style of Yorchha, the company’s signature movement vocabulary combining elements from yoga, the classical Indian dance form Odishi, and the martial art form Chhau, and set exciting repertory on intensive participants. A public showing will conclude the intensive on Friday, July 11, at 2pm.
The Yerba Buena Center for the Arts in San Francisco is hosting a week-long series of events, Oct. 7-12, 2013, celebrating Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Dance Company‘s 30th anniversary. The events included a symposium, Just Enough, Just In Time: Bill T. Jones In Reflection of 30 Years, that featured conversation with Ananya Chatterjea, author and critic Marcia Siegel, and curator and writer Adrienne Edwards. Chatterjea is a scholar and artistic director of Ananya Dance Theatre; this monograph reflects her prepared remarks.
The word “mohona” means “estuary” in Bengali. Its meaning as the title of this work has become a self-fulfilling prophecy as our creative process brought together influences, insights, and stories from communities and leaders that taught me about the inherent magic of such confluences. When sweet and salt waters converge in an estuary, great richness and diversity of marine life becomes possible. “Mohona” has emerged from and embodies just such an estuary – one where stories of assault and appropriation, violation and devastation, loss and despair, rage and depression mix and alter course with those of cleansing and reclaiming, remembering and rebuilding, revealing and forgiving, hoping and loving – to reflect the emotional life of water and of life dependent upon water.
A multi-disciplinary, total theater experience, “Mohona” relates stories and layers images of women’s work and lives in relation to water. The performance space is imagined as an estuary – located at the confluence of multiple marine flows, rich in possibilities – where dancers layer breath, movement, and voice to explore the themes.
Created by Ananya Chatterjea in collaboration with Mankwe Ndosi and the dancers of Ananya Dance Theatre. Score by Gregg Schutte in collaboration with Mankwe Ndosi and Pooja Goswami Pavan. Set and costume design by Annie Kastura Rollins.
Tickets: $27, $22, $17; $2 off for seniors and children, and alumni, faculty, and staff of St. Catherine University and University of Minnesota; $10 day of event rush for college and high school students.
Ananya Dance Theatre will perform around Lourdes Cue’s “Flotilla for Peace” that includes hundreds of origami boats in different sizes, made from old maps and Atlases. Hear the sounds from the shores of the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans mingling with the flowing waters of the Mississippi River. Performance is July 11th at Katherine E. Nash gallery on the University of Minnesota campus. Full details here.
Members of Ananya Dance Theatre & master class participants at The National Ballet, Harare, April 2013
HIFA showcases Zimbabwean and international artists in a comprehensive program of theater, dance, music, circus, street performance, spoken word, craft, and visual arts over six days each April and May. The festival is known internationally as one of the best festivals in Africa.
Renée Copeland, Orlando Hunter, Alex Eady, Ananya Chatterjea, Rose Huey, Chitra Vairavan, Hui Wilcox & Brittany Radke • Jameson Hotel, Harare, May 2013
Upon arrival in Harare, the dancers created and presented an unplanned performance at the festival’s launch party, and taught master classes at The National Ballet academy for dancers from several different countries.
Later, they met with personnel from the United States Embassy Harare and with the ambassador from India to Zimbabwe.
Ananya Chatterjea & Hui Wilcox, Harare, 2013
This was our second professional engagement in an international arena in 12 months, following performances at the New Waves Festival in Trinidad and Tobago in July 2012.
Ananya Dance Theatre’s engagement at HIFA was supported by the Mid Atlantic Arts Foundation through USArtists International in partnership with the National Endowment for the Arts and the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.
Josina Manu, Ananya Chatterjea, Alex Eady, Brittany Radke, Chitra Vairavan, Orlando Hunter, Rose Huey, Renée Copeland & Hui Wilcox. Minneapolis-St. Paul Airport, April 2013
