Mandala Makers Dance Festival

Translocal South Asian Dance in Diaspora

A celebration of dance with roots in the South Asian diaspora, the day includes morning workshops and afternoon performances by Ishami Dance Company, a contemporary dance company that combines elements of South Asian classical and folk dance with Western dance, and Jiva Dance, which explores the intersections of classicism, modernity, and experimentalism. Concluding the day is a panel discussion moderated by arts critic Lauren Warnecke and including Ameera Nimjee, assistant professor in the Yale University Department of Music, who studies citizenship, race, and gender in transnational South Asian performance cultures. The panel will consider the idea that, when the dancer’s body carries more than one language of movement, it transforms into a vessel of myriad experiences, seamlessly blending diverse cultural influences and narratives into novel expressions of form, motion, and emotion. Other panelists will be announced at a later date.

ONLINE REGISTRATION CLOSES ON MAY 30, 2024