Katha Dance Theatre

KATHA DANCE THEATRE CREATES, PROMOTES AND EDUCATE THE ART FORM OF DANCE, MUSIC, POETRY AND STORYTELLING. ROOTED IN KATHAK, THE CLASSICAL DANCE STLE OF NORTH INDIA, KATHA DANCE THEATRE DEDICATED IN MAKING ACCESSIBLE, INCLUSIVE AND RELEVANT. IT ENHANCES THE LOCAL DIVERSE COMMUNITY OR AUDIENCE.

4A. KATHAK SCHOOL OF DANCE:KATHAK DANCE FIRST OCCURRED IN 400 BC IN NORTHERN INDIA AS A WAY OF TRAVELLING BARDS TO TELL THE STORIES OF THE HINDU EPICS. POETRY COMBINED WITH RHYTHMIC MOVEMENTS AIDED IN WORSHIPPING STORYTELLING.DURING THE MEDIEVAL PERIOD, KATHAK BECAME A ESTABLISHED PART OF ROYAL COURT CULTURES OF INDIA'S KINGS AND EMPERORS. THUS KATHAK DEVELOPED INTO A STRONG DANCE TRADITION INCORPORATING ELEMENTS OF BOTH HINDU AND MUSLIM CULTURES. WE AT KDT CONDUCTED WEEKLY, CURRICULUM BASED KATHAK DANCE TRAINING TO OVER 140 ASPIRING DANCERS AGES 6 TO ADULT IN FOUR SEASONS (FALL, WINTER, SPRING AND SUMMER). IN ADDITION, KDT GAVE SUMMER INTENSIVE CLASSES FOR REINFORCING THE TECHNICAL ASPECT S OF KATHAK DANCE. DUE TO COVID CRISIS, AFTER 6 MONTHS OF INPERSON TEACHING, WE NEEDED TO MOVE TO VIRTUAL TEACHING. THE SURVEY AT THE END OF THE YEAR ROM THE DTUDENTS AND TEACHERS SOLIDIFIED OUR COMMITTMENT AND STUDENT SATISFACTION.

4B. PERFORMANCES: KDT COMPANY DANCERS PERFORMED "KATHAK YATRA" FOR THE ORDWAY CENTER OF PERFORMING ARTS, ST PAUL, MN AT FLIN HILLSS CHILDREN'S FESTIVAL AN ONLINE VERSION WHICH DREW MORE THAN 1000 AUDIENCE MEMBERS.NEXT, KDT PERFORMED FOR THE INDIA ASSOCIATION OF MINNESOTA FOR THEIR IN PERSON "INDIA FEST" CELEBRATION IN ST PAUL, MN AND IT WAS ATTENDED BY AN AUDIENCE OF 20,000 (APPROX) IN AUGUST 2021. KDT PERFORMANCE WAS ONE OF THE BEST. THEN AT THE END OF AUGUST, KDT REACHED OUT TO HASTINGS, MN COMMUNITY AND DELIGHTED THE AUDIENCE WITH EXQUISITE DANCE PERFORMANE THUS OVERWHELMING THE OF 300 IN PERSON.

4C. KATHA DANCE THEATRE ADMINISTRATORS ( BOARD OF DIRECTOR, GENERAL MANAGER, AND ALL ARTISTIC PERSONNEL ( CHOREOGRAPHER / DIRECTOR, DANCERS, COMPOSER AND MUSICIANS) WORKED DILIGENTLY TO PREPARE ITS PRODUCTION, TITLES SHYAAMA - OF EQUALITY". WORKED WITH MUSICIAN JD STEELE & THE RESIDENT CHOREOGRAPHER RITA MUSTAPHI WHICH STAGED IN 2021 NOVEMBER AT THE PARK SQUARE THEATER, ST PAUL, MN. IT WAS A COLLABORATION WITH MUSICIAN & COMPOSER JD STEELE, POETRY BY REVOLUTIONARY POET KAZI NAZRUL ISLAM, THEN FROM INDIA (1899-1976) & A SOMALI POET IFRAH MANSOOR. IT WAS VERY ORIGINAL PRODUCTION, ARTISTIC DIRECTOR RITA MUSTAPHI WORKED ON THE SCRIPT WITH SELECTED POETRY AND COMPOSER STARTED CREATING MUSIC BY HE END OF AUG 2021. AT THE SAME TIME, DANCERS FROM SEVERAL ETHNIC GROUP WAS SE;ECTED AND STARTED REHEARSING, ALSO, THE SOMALI IFRAH MANSOOR WAS COMMISSIONED TO CREATE SPOKEN WORD ELEMENTS FROM FROM HER EXPERIENCE ABOUT HER JOURNEY FROM SOMALILAND TO USA.

PART III 4D. FROM 2020 DECEMBER TO JUNE 2021, EVERY MONTH WE PRESENTED AND CELEBRATED OUR DANCERS THROUGH VIRTUAL PERFORMANCES. IT WAS VERY WELL ATTENDED BY FAMILY AND FRIENDS OF THE DANCERS. POST SHOW FEED BACK WAS VERY POSITIVE. 2021 COMMUNITY FESTIVALS: KDT CELEBRATED DIWALI (FESTIVAL OF LIGHTS), SARASWATI PUJA & BASANT PANCHAMI, WELCOMING SPRING ALL VIRTUALLY. IT WELCOMED STUDENTS, PARENTS, PATRONS AND COMMUNITY AT LARGE TO HONOR ASIAN INDIAN CELEBRATION THROUGH ARTS & LEARNING. THROUGH HOSTING THE FESTIVALS KDT OPENED THE DOOR TO THE COMMUNITY TO CELEBRATE TOGETHER. -KDT PARTNERED WITH LOCAL COMMUNITY ORGANIZATIONS TO PERFORM DEMONSTARTE AND ENGAGE IN MOVEMENT SKILL AND CREATIVE EXPLORATION IN CLASS OOM ORIENTED EXPERIENCE ("DANCE, DISCOVER, TRANSFORM"). WE ALSO CONDUCTED MASTER CLASSE, WORKSHOP AND LECTURE/DEMOS FOR THE COMMUNITY WHICH WERE DONE VIRTUALLY.