Ananya Dance Theatre

Who & What

Ananya Dance Theatre is  a company of cultural activists and BIPOC women, and femme artists who believe in the transformative power of dance.

How

We create original dance theater with commissioned scores through the collaborative efforts of our company and guest artists who work in the realms of music and sound composition, spoken word, and lighting, scenic, media, and costume design.

We dance stories where our lives and dreams occupy the center to shift the landscape of mainstream culture and dismantle entrenched hierarchies of race, gender, caste, class, sexuality, nationality, and ability.

Our practice includes (1) devised concert stage productions; (2) workshops, classes, and dialogues with particular focus on building solidarities and healing; and (3) participatory performances that invite audiences to embody the possibilities of sharing movement, space, rhythm, and humanity with others.

Aesthetic

Our work unfolds through Yorchha™, a unique movement aesthetic of contemporary dance that draws on Classical Odissi, the martial art of Chhau, and Vinyasa Yoga to celebrate a feminine energy and aesthetic.

Values

We are committed to undoing the violence of racism, casteism, white supremacy, toxic masculinity, Empire, colonization, slavery, genocide, and other aggressions.

We believe in the liberation that rhythm, breath, and curvilinearity inaugurate.

Where

Since June 2018, our convening, teaching, and rehearsal home has been the Shawngram Institute for Performance & Social Justice located on University Avenue (between Dunlap & Griggs) in St. Paul. 

"Demands your attention … intellectual and emotional" –See Chicago Dance

"Grounding in the exacting, mesmerizing odissi tradition. … Thrilling. … Ananya and her dancers could be alluring and mysterious or fierce warriors from one moment to the next in this spellbinding … work of strength, agility, concentration and exotic beauty that became more compelling as the evening went on." –The Maui News

"The audience at the National Theater was fully engaged with this social justice-themed dance performance and was cheering after each section of the production." –Tibebeselassie Tigabu, The Reporter Ethiopia 

"This audience, thanks to an inspiring performance, was revved up and ready to take on the world." –Star Tribune, Minneapolis-St. Paul

"Power-packed performance" –The Statesman, New Delhi, India