Ananya Dance Theatre | Shaatranga: Women Weaving Worlds
The O’Shaughnessy at St. Catherine University, Saint Paul MN
Saturday, September 22, 2018, 7:30 PM
Adult: $29.00 / $24.00 / $19.00 | Discounts available.
“Shaatranga: Women Weaving Worlds,” the fifth and capstone iteration of Ananya Dance Theatre’s five-year series, “Work Women Do,” will premiere as part of the Women of Substance series at The O’Shaughnessy at St. Catherine University.
Choreographer Ananya Chatterjea uses two primary metaphors to explore relationships among global south communities linked by Indian Ocean trade routes that pre-existed colonization and slavery: Indigo, an important export/import on these trade routes across Asia and Africa, and blue jeans, whose ubiquitous presence in global commerce falls differently on our skin, mediated through histories of denim and indigo.
“Shaatranga” (seven colors) poses the question, “How do we show up for each other?” and suggests that global women who engage in world-making are refusing to be seen in only blue/indigo – the pain, sorrow, and defeat that has historically framed them. Instead, they share their multifaceted stories that express not only their pain, but their joys, laughter, and the work they do, that goes largely unrecognized, to create positive force in their communities and the world.
“Shaatranga: Women Weaving Worlds”
Commissioned by The O’Shaughnessy at St. Catherine University
with support from the Joyce Foundation
Choreography: Ananya Chatterjea
“Shaatranga” is supported by an Art Works grant from the National Endowment for the Arts, the Imagine Fund, the Marbrook Foundation, and the Seward Community Co-op. 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, in partnership with Andrea Reynolds aka Queen Drea, is a fiscal 2018 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.
