Ananya Dance Theatre opens Twin Cities dance season with new "Moreechika," will also perform in Philadelphia

Minneapolis, Minnesota

Ananya Dance Theatre will open the Twin Cities' fall dance season with four performances of "Moreechika: Season of Mirage" at the Southern Theater, Sept. 6-9.

Sherie Apungu and Ananya Chatterjea • "Moreechika: Season of Mirage"
National Academy for the Performing Arts, Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago
Photo: Maria Nunes Photography © 2012 • www.marianunes.com

Choreographed by Ananya Chatterjea to an original score by the composer Greg Schutte of St. Paul, "Moreechika" received its world premiere, July 27, at the National Academy for the Performing Arts in Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago, as part of the New Waves! 2012 Festival.


The theme of the evening-length work is oil and the environmental, cultural, and human costs of its extraction around the world, particularly its impact on women in global communities of color.

Annie Katsura Rollins designed the costumes and giant shadow puppets used in "Moreechika." Mike Wangen designed the stage lighting. The work runs 85 minutes without intermission.

"Moreechika" is the third in a four-part, multi-year investigation into systemic violence, trauma, resistance, and empowerment. The quartet employs the thematic elements of mud ("Kshoy!/Decay!" 2010), gold ("Tushaanal: Fires of Dry Grass" 2011), oil ("Moreechika: Season of Mirage" 2012), and water ("Mohona: Estuaries of Desire" 2013).

Chitra Vairavan and Sherie Apungu • "Moreechika"
National Academy for the Performing Arts, Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago
Photo: Maria Nunes Photography © 2012 • www.marianunes.com

Following the Minneapolis performances, the troupe will present "Moreechika" at The Conwell Dance Theater in Philadelphia, Oct. 5-6, as part of a residency sponsored by The Boyer College of Music and Dance at Temple University.


Chatterjea and her company members drew their creative inspiration  from several sources, including the struggles of Ken Saro-Wiwa, a Nigerian activist.


"Saro-Wiwa," Chatterjea said, "addressed the injustices done by Shell Oil to the Ogoni people and the destruction of their land and ecosystem, for which he was tried and hanged by a military tribunal."


The perspectives and struggles of the U'wa community of Colombia also informed the work.


"This community is stunned by the excessive consumption of oil by our world," Chatterjea said. "They think of oil as ruiria, blood of the earth, which must be respected as part of the natural world."


Chatterjea also drew inspiration from the responses of the indigenous Kichwa women of Ecuador to Chevron Oil, and from the current struggle in North America against the Keystone XL Pipeline through Native American lands.

"Moreechika" • Ananya Dance Theatre • Port of Spain, Trinidad, July 2012
Southern Theater, Minneapolis, Sept. 6-9, 2012
Conwell Dance Theater, Philadelphia, Oct. 5-6, 2012
Photo: Maria Nunes Photography © 2012 • www.marianunes.com

Ananya Dance Theatre is a company of women artists of color working at the intersection of social justice and artistic excellence to tell the stories of ordinary lives and extraordinary dreams with an emotional intensity and physical prowess that draws upon the company's choreographic aesthetic and technique.


Chatterjea's aesthetic integrates the sculptural sensuality, powerful footwork, and emotional articulation of Odissi, a classical Indian dance form, with the pure lines and breath release of yoga and the bodily awareness of energy from the martial art of Chhau.


Chatterjea, a recipient of a 2011 Guggenheim Fellowship for Choreography and a 2012 McKnight Artist Fellowship for choreography, serves as a professor and Director of Dance in the Department of Theatre Arts and Dance at the University of Minnesota.


Minneapolis performances of "Moreechika" are scheduled for Thu. and Sun., Sept. 6 and 9, at 7:30pm, and Fri. and Sat., Sept. 7 and 8, at 8pm. The Southern Theater is located in the Seven Corners District of Minneapolis at 1420 Washington Avenue South. General admission tickets are available through TicketWorks at 612.343.3390, or online at ticketworks.com.


Philadelphia performances are scheduled for Fri. and Sat., Oct. 5 and 6, at 7:30pm. The Conwell Dance Theater is located at 1801 North Broad Street. General admission tickets are available by calling 215.204.1122.


More articles about "Moreechika":

• "The Oily World We Live In," Brittany Trevick, metromag.com
• "Ananya Dance Theatre takes on our oil dependence," Sheila Regan, TCDailyPlanet.net
• "A new wave of dance," Aba A. Luke, Guardian.co.tt
• "New Ananya dance mixes anger and joy," Caroline Palmer, Star Tribune

Gary Peterson serves as chair, board of directors, of Ananya Dance Theatre. 

Dance theater at the intersection of artistic excellence and social justice

Minneapolis, Minnesota

 

The year 2012 marks the eighth anniversary of Ananya Dance Theatre (ADT) as a creative and performing dance company based in Minneapolis. Led by its founder, Ananya Chatterjea, the ensemble’s 12 dancers employ the classical eastern Indian dance form of Odissi, combined with Yoga and the martial art of Chhau, to create and stage original works rooted in the life experiences of women of color.

Ananya Chatterjea

Chatterjea, a native of Kolkata (Calcutta), India, serves as ADT’s artistic director and choreographer. She also holds the positions of professor, and head of the dance program in the University of Minnesota’s Department of Theatre Arts and Dance.

Her work has been supported and recognized by the Asian Arts Initiative, the McKnight, Jerome, and Bush foundations, Minnesota State Arts Board, City Pages, Minnesota Women’s Press, Black Indian Hispanic Asian Women In Action, and the Minnesota Women’s Political Caucus, among others.

About her company’s work, Chatterjea says, “We pursue excellence in our artistry to forge pathways that generate forces of strength and beauty, galvanize strong communities, and embody a philosophy of possibility and liberation in a shared humanity.” 

ADT’s repertoire consists of more than 24, abstract and evening-length dance narratives built upon social justice themes. For example, the company examined environmental issues and their impact on women’s daily lives in a trilogy of works created over the three years of 2006 to 2009: “Pipaashaa” (extreme thirst), “DAAK” (call to action), and “Ashesh Barsha” (unending monsoon).

More recently, the dancers began a four-part examination of violence against women in the exploitation of land (“Kshoy!,” 2010) and the mining and distribution of gold (“Tushaanal,” 2011). It will complete this expressive study by addressing oil in 2012 (“Moreechika”) and water in 2013 (“Mohona“).

ADT presents one major production in the Twin Cities each year during September, emphasizing excellence of performance over frequency. Its productions, presented since the company’s inception at the Southern Theater in Minneapolis, feature original music, often with live musicians, and original costume, lighting and set designs.

ADT: Dance at the intersection of artistic excellence and social justice

ADT’s work is informed by its dancers’ research about social justice issues that arise from the lives and stories of women of color around the world. Their use of dance as a catalyst to engage audiences in a dialogue that poses questions and re-imagines the world makes constituent response a valued and welcome component of their creative process.

The year 2011 held numerous, accomplishments for this Twin Cities organization with a worldwide influence:

• Artistic director Chatterjea received a Guggenheim Fellowship in choreography;
• Performance on International Women’s Day at the College of St. Catherine, sponsored by Refugee and Immigrant Women for Change;
• Performance at re-opening ceremonies of the Weisman Art Museum;
• Performance at a presentation by environmental activist Majora Carter at the Ted Mann Concert Hall;
• Premiere of the evening-length “Tushaanal” at the Southern Theater;
• Company’s open audition attracted 20 aspiring dancers;
• Chatterjea presented lectures and solo demonstrations in Spain;
• Company was represented by performance and booth at the Midwest Arts  Conference, a “trade show” for the arts, and Chatterjea was invited to address “Equity in the Cultural Landscape.”

Over the years, ADT’s work also has been presented in 11 other U.S. cities (including Madison, Chicago, Detroit, Philadelphia, New York, and Los Angeles), nine other states (Wisconsin, Illinois, Michigan, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, New York, Massachusetts, Maine, and California), and nine other countries (Canada, United Kingdom, Germany, India, Malaysia, Indonesia, Singapore, Philippines, and Japan).

ADT’s next Twin Cities production, “Moreechika,” will be presented in September 2012.




Gary Peterson has been a member of the board of directors of Ananya Dance Theatre since 2009. Photos: V. Paul Virtucio.