Commitment to Social Justice
A message from the Artistic Director
At Nava Dance Theatre, we commit to using art to engage and continue conversations around racism with our audiences, now more than ever. Every month we will introduce programming (video art, talks, panels, or live performances) that explore racism and casteism in the South Asian community.
How can we, collectively, use art to engage our community in this cause? How do we not only share the facts surrounding the injustice but also engage emotionally? Can we use our artmaking and the online experience to create brief but truthful touchpoints that can help us find common ground with communities around us that need our support?
Through Nava Dance Theatre, we often use Bharatanatyam movement to navigate the complicated intersection of racism, feminism, and identity politics. Our past work has delved into unheard refugee voices, the #metoo movement, and a number of other social justice issues. We dig into contemporary history, witness statements, interviews, documentaries, news reports - all with the goal of better embodying these narratives through the bharatanatyam movement vocabulary.
This is because I believe art can help both the artist and the audience feel the reality of these stories while making true and significant connections to their own experiences. And because art, in its own extraordinary and significant ways, reveals.
Watch this space for updates as we navigate this new chapter.
Tanu Sreedharan is a Bharatanatyam dancer and public health professional. She is passionate about creating more equitable communities and influencing policy through data analytics. Tanu's primary passion is Bharatanatyam. She began her tutelage under gurus K.P. and Katherine Kunhiraman and continued her study of Bharatanatyam under K.P. Yesodha. She is a dedicated public health leader and passionate Bharatanatyam dancer that looks forward to contributing to the field using her cultural wealth and desire for change.
Program director
