Art Share 2024 Program

Saturday, October 5th at 6:30 PM
Joe Goode Annex, 401 Alabama Street, San Francisco, CA

The Art Share 2024 is a works-in-progress showing of the members of our 2024 cohort! Shireen Hamza, Maya Rau-Murthy, and Meghana Ravikumar will share their work in person and Sudesh Mantillake will show their work virtually. Pritam Das, Dayita Nereyeth, Shwetha Gopalakrishnan will share excepts of their Bangalore sharing and Parijat Desai will also show highlights from her process. The 6 month residency emphasizes process over product, and the artists have been digging deep into each of their works to put together an intimate preview of the projects they continue to work on. Grateful to Joe Goode Performance Group, who is our space partner, whose support has been instrumental in bringing this vision to life.

***Program***

What Kind of Partner is the Floor? by Shireen Hamza and Eshan Rafi

What Kind of Partner is the Floor? In this new collaboration, Shireen Hamza and Eshan Rafi bring together their practices of working with archives, stories, contact improvisation and somatic movement. How do we relate to the floor, and how is this conditioned by social histories? Seemingly solid and constant, the floor's meanings are charged and shifting. In this participatory piece, we invite an embodied exploration of our relationships to the floor.

Credits:
Choreography: Shireen Hamza and Eshan Rafi
Performance: Shireen Hamza and Eshan Rafi

Steps Beyond Silence by Maya Rau-Murthy

Directed by Maya Rau-Murthy, Steps Beyond Silence is a multi-media awareness education production amplifying the silenced voices of survivors of gender-based violence. Stemming from her personal journey as a survivor and her advocacy work for survivors, the production blends live rap, animation, konnakol, bharatanatyam, navtar, mridangam, and Carnatic vocals. The work aims to validate survivor experiences; educate on consent, the bystander effect, and intergenerational trauma; and empower viewers to be upstanders.

Credits:

Director, composer, choreographer, konnakol artist, rapper, dancer - Maya Rau-Murthy
Music co-director, composer, carnatic vocalist - Sindhu Natarajan
Animation director, choreographer, dancer - Mrinaalika Sivakumar
Composer, navtar - Vishnu R
Composer, mridangam, kanjira - Shubha Chandramouli
Choreographer, dancer, rapper, singer - Meenakshi Chen
Dancer - Surabhi Bharadwaj
Choreographer - Anugraha Shirdar

The team that will be performing the work live are: Maya Rau-Murthy, Sindhu Natarajan, Mrinaalika Sivakumar, Meenakshi Chen, Surabhi Bharadwaj 

Kala by Meghana Ravikumar

Over the course of the pandemic, I started to develop an intense longing to find and know what home feels like. Whenever I think of home, I think of my grandparents home where I lived when I was 4 years old. I think of running around on warm streets, climbing my neighbors’ fences, picking flowers with my friends, rose and orange popsicles, and my loving grandparents. I am thrown viscerally back into this home when I walk by blooming jasmine or feel humid heat on my skin. It has been odd knowing what home is and where it is but not being able to physically get there. This work in progress piece is an exploration of trying to get back to a home that no longer exists physically, where it’s simultaneously lost in time but ever-present and, almost, yet never tangible.

*Warning: The first 24 seconds includes a slow flashing light.*

Credits: 
Production & Performance - Meghana Ravikumar

Transcript of recordings:

May Day May Day May Day May Day.

My transport is malfunctioning. I am in uncontrolled descent in unknown territory within Sector 8342 Alpha Zion. Again, sector 8342 alpha zion. Send help. send help.

Captain’s Log: Star Date 300.1 

Day 50 after I crash landed on this planet. From initial exploration, the locals seem to obsess with staying out of the sun and have built everything with straight lines. Their linguistic patterns match those of their architecture, sharp and linear. Organic life is bottled and manicured to fit these rigid shapes. I find myself walking in grids. I do not know how sustainable this is. I hope to salvage scraps to fix my transport and make my way back home. 

Captain’s Log: Star Date 551.32

Day 1235 after I crash landed on this planet. My starship continues to need parts I cannot find. I have partially given up upon recovering my transport. Instead, I scour my ship and this planet for pieces of the earth. I’ve found jasmine vines, rose petals, an old soap box, expired sweets, hing, boiled peanut shells, warm sea, and marigolds. I wrap myself in my collections, close my eyes shut, burrow deep in my body, and will myself to rip through space time. To my home, that I can no longer reach, and no longer exists. And in those moments, I feel warm again.

Response to Tea Dance by Sudesh Mantillake

Response to Tea Dance is a piece that records the process of reflecting on and expressing the problematic "tea dance" choreography used to represent up-country Tamil plantation workers and their Malayaga community in Sri Lanka. People of the Malayaga community are the descendants of migrant workers from South India who were brought to Sri Lanka (then Ceylon) by the British Colonial Government between the 1830s and 1930s. In the 1970s, Sinhala choreographers created the "tea dance" for the first time to represent Malayaga Tamil people on stage, under the choreographic model used to create Sinhala "folk dances." In effect, they choreographed their imagination of the lifestyle of the women and men who work on tea plantations, portraying them comically and ignoring the stark socio-economic realities they are forced to struggle with. A group of artists came together to collectively respond to this problematic "tea dance.”

Collaborative choreographers:
Sudesh Mantillake
Hewagamage Chamanee Darshika
Selvaraj Rajeew
Sumudu Wikasitha Manelanga
Rasiah Dhanarajh
Kaladevi Anah Harish

Excerpt of ANKAHI by Pritam Das

In the whispering shadows of legend, a mysterious woman emerges, her essence woven from the threads of compassion, strength, and devotion. A warrior’s heart beats within her, tempered by the depths of love and the ache of loss. Her spirit, a complex and beautiful presence, slowly reveals itself, like a hidden garden finally uncovered, its beauty and depth waiting to be discovered.

Credits:
Conceptualized and presented by Pritam Das 
Script by Shri Divy Anand Jha
Musical Inputs by Dr S Vasudevan and Shri Ronak Ramchandran 
Narration by Shri Subhav Nogia
Flute by Shri Raghi Simha AN 
Rhythm Pad and Konnakol by Shri Mithun Shakthii S
Logistics coordinator Shri Pinaki Chakraborty

Excerpt of Tick Tock by Dayita Nereyeth

Tick Tock is a time-based exploration involving a contemporary dancer and a ‘twin’ bonsai plant. It acknowledges and inhabits different experiences and layers of time, both linear and cyclical. There is always a continuous return, with no clear beginning or end, and a feeling of moving forward. This work-in-progress is part of an evening-length piece called Rooted, which is being developed in collaboration with Abhaydev Praful, Joshua Sailo, and Bharavi.

Credits:
Choreography: Dayita Nereyeth
Performance: Dayita Nereyeth and Mandrake
Sound: Abhaydev Praful
Shadow: Joshua Sailo
Light: Bharavi

Excerpt of Goodbye to Alarippu by Shwetha Gopalakrishnan

Goodbye to Alarippu is a solo devised theatre piece that tells the story of a dancer’s struggles for freedom and identity amidst continuous ruptures of violence. This piece uses the dancer’s memories, objects, experiences and everything unsaid to raise questions of care and healing. Highlighting the dancer's continual struggle and the repeated attempts to repair injuries, this piece talks about the dilemmas of finding courage to move amidst the overwhelming stuckness and spirals of structures. 

Credits: 
Sound Design- Abhiroop Paul
Production - Deepika Gulati
Project mentor- Talin Subarraya
Social media design by Sukriti  
Creative Direction- Sapna Ahuja
Dramaturgy and vision- Veena Basavarajaiah (cartoon natyam)  
Executive Direction and concept- Shwetha Gopalakrishnan
Developed in Black Box Okhla
Project supported by Unrehearsed Artist Residency

Funders
Unrehearsed Artist Residency is created by Nava Dance Theatre, and is a part of the Unrehearsed Activism program, supported by the California Arts Council Impact Grant, San Francisco Arts Commission, National Endowment for the Arts, Zellerbach Family Foundation and individual donors.

Consider donating to keep this program going! All donations are tax deductible in the US.

NAVA DANCE THEATRE IS A 501(C)3 REGISTERED NON-PROFIT ORGANIZATION.

About Unrehearsed Artist Residency Program
The Unrehearsed Artist Residency Program aims to fund and support the creation of new dance work by artists who are often not represented in conventionally-funded spaces in the South Asian Dance industry. The program keeps care & developmental support front and center while working toward sharing a final work in progress

Special thanks
We would like to thank those who supported this work through community engagement programs, being present for work-in-progress sharings, having 1:1 conversations with many artists, past cohort members, panelists, and those advising on the direction of this program. We would like to also thank Veena Basavarajiah (Cartoon_Natyam) and Jason Wyman (Queerly Complex) for their support and guidance at different stages of this years program. We would like to especially thank ALL the artists in this years URP cohort, for being so open to process over product and really digging deep into their work.

URP Leadership
Artistic Director: Nadhi Thekkek
Program Director: Tanu Sreedharan
Programs Manager: Purna Venugopalan

Learn About These Humanitarian Aid Efforts:
World Central Kitchen

Heal Palestine

Appalachian Funders Network

Beloved Asheville

About the Artists

Additional Artists/Performers/Collaborator Bios:

Eshan Rafi (b. 1986, Lahore) is an artist working across expanded photography, performance art, and video art. Their works deal with the intersection of political events and personal archives, often staging the impossibility of representation. Rafi is an alumni of the Home Workspace Program at Ashkal Alwan in Beirut (LB), and has participated in residencies at Fondazioni Antonio Ratti in Como (IT), Saas-Fee Summer Institute of Art in Berlin (DE), and the Banff Centre for the Arts (CA), among others. Their work has been exhibited, performed and screened internationally including at Links Hall, Chicago (US); SummerWorks Lab, Toronto (CA); Sharjah Film Platform (AE); M:ST 9 Performance Art Biennale, Calgary (CA) and neue Gesellschaft für bildende Kunst, Berlin (DE). Rafi’s artistic practice rests on a history of community organizing in queer of color communities, including working in collectives to develop decolonial and anti-racist pedagogies. Over the past several years, they have participated in anti-surveillance and hacker spaces including at the Allied Media Conference in Detroit (US) and Chaos Computer Congress in Leipzig (DE). Their work has been extensively supported by the Toronto Arts Council, Ontario Arts Council and Canada Council for the Arts, as well as by the generosity of queer and BIPoC communities. Rafi holds an MFA in Art, Theory and Practice from Northwestern University, Evanston (US).

Sindhu Natarajan: Music Director, Carnatic Vocal, Composer

Sindhu Natarajan is a renowned vocalist, composer, and South Indian classical dancer. She comes from a family of musicians, and began her formal training in Carnatic music with her aunts, Vasanthi Kannan and Raji Gopalakrishnan, and her grandfather, P.V. Natarajan. She has also studied Bharatanatyam under Mythili Kumar of Abhinaya Dance Company in San Jose.

Sindhu has given many concerts in the Bay Area for the past 15 years. She has also collaborated with and composed music for multiple leading South Asian dance companies and choreographers across the United States. In addition to performing, Sindhu is a passionate composer who creates music that blends her Carnatic roots with other genres.

Furthermore, Sindhu is a passionate advocate for immigrant artists. She is on the advisory board of The Immigrant Artist Network, where she uses her art to connect with other immigrant artists and comrades to build community in the art space.

Vishnu R: Navtar, Composer

Vishnu R is an award-winning Indian Classical & Jazz musician, composer and the inventor of the new, unique 9-string instrument NAVTAR (patented). A Fellow of the US Govt. Bureau of Educational & Cultural Affairs, Mentor of British Council's India-UK Exchange and a Grade 8 Western Classical graduate from the Trinity College of London, Vishnu is the recipient of prestigious awards such as ‘Best Performer & Composition Award’ Beyond Music International Project (Switzerland), Karnataka Rajyothsava, and has collaborated with leading artists such as 5-time GRAMMY award-winning artists Snarky Puppy, Padmavibhushan Umayalapuram K. Sivaraman, Padmashri A.Kanyakumari, Vijay Prakash, Singer Karthik, Guitar Pasanna to name a few.

Shubha Chadramouli: Mridangam, Composer

Shubha received her initial mridangam tutelage from Sri. Poovalur Srinivasan, and has continued to receive advanced training under Sri. Patri Satish Kumar. One of only a handful of performing female mridangam artists in the world, Shubha has given mridangam accompaniment to several renown musicians across the globe.

As a collaborator in diverse genres of music and dance ensembles, Shubha has performed at numerous global music festivals, most recently the Reflektor festival in Hamburg, Germany curated by Anoushka Shankar.

Shubha’s initial introduction into Carnatic music was from her mother, Smt. Sunanda Chandramouli. Shubha continued advanced vocal training under the late Smt. Geetha Ramanathan Bennett and Sri. Delhi P.

Anugraha Sridhar: Dancer/Choreographer

Anugraha Sridhar is a Bharathanrityam artiste and Carnatic vocalist from New Jersey. She is a senior disciple of Padmabhushan Dr Padma Subrahmanyam and the artistic director of Anugraha Arts- Centre for Bharathanrityam. She has specialized in the 108 Karanas in addition to other Marga techniques and has performed in many prominent festivals across India including the prestigious Spirit of Youth festival 2014 at The Music Academy Madras. She was invited to perform with her guru in five cities in South Africa under invitation from the India Embassy for Indian Council for Cultural Relations (ICCR) and also went on her first solo Europe tour presenting and teaching in Paris, Madrid and London. Anugraha works with various dancers and companies like Jiva dance to create collaborative work and mentors’ senior students on body conditioning techniques, across the USA. The Indian express calls Anugraha "A Niche in Nrityam in NYC" as a choreographer striving to create her own artistic voice in the country. She was invited to perform for the festival celebrating 75 years of Indian Independence inside the Capitol Hill in Washington DC hosted by senators and senior business groups in the USA.

Mrinaalika Sivakumar: Animation Director, Dancer, Choreographer

Mrinaalika is an award-winning multi-media artist and bharatanatyam dancer. Mrinaalika is a choreographer at Natya Anubhava Dance, known for leading an award-winning collegiate bharatanatyam team and for performing Ardhanareeshwara: Shattering the Construct of Gender. As an artist, she has been recognized by the City of Boston’s Artist Grant Program for her work in local publications and city-wide murals. Mrinaalika has also done graphic design work with large brands such as Nike and NBA, as well as with justice initiatives such as NEXTDistro. Mrinaalika also works as a housing and substance-use specialist, supporting operations and mitigating the needs of homeless populations in Boston. Her backgrounds in bharatanatyam, social justice and art bridge the gap between animation, dance, music, and the complex themes we address.

Meenakshi Chen: Dancer, Choreographer

Meena Chen, is a multimedia storyteller focused on the intersection of art, activism, spirituality, and identity. Trained in Bharatanatyam under Dr. Nalini Rau, they work across mediums such as music, visual art, and dance, and center their art on healing and community-building through spiritual practice, event-planning, and teaching. As a performer, they are known by their full name - Meenakshi 陳美明 - an homage to their mixed ancestral and cultural influences. Meena graduated from Swarthmore College in 2021 with a major in Environmental Studies and double minor in Religion and Dance, and have been working as a freelance performing artist and creator ever since. In Philadelphia, from 2022-2023, they danced as a company dancer and choreographer with AniMalayaworks. Now they currently live in NY where they are an educator, performer, and choreographer at Natya Anubhava Theater.