Day 2: Art Share 2025 Program

Ammr Vandal presents “Aurat (Work in Progress)”

New York

CREDITS:
Dancer / Choreography: Ammr Vandal,
Nastaliq Calligraphy: Maryam Rahman
Voice and musical composition : Zainab J. Khawaja
Producer: Rakae Jamil 

Exploring the connection and overlap between Persian Nastaliq Calligraphy and Kathak, in the use of movement patterns, flourishes and accents, this piece delves into a broader range of narratives. Kathak has traditionally been used to portray the stages of a woman’s life—a young girl, a maiden, a mother— it now expands to tell stories of coming of age, rebellion, aging, and quiet resilience. 

This work visualizes a poem by the Sufi poet Bulleh Shah, which celebrates the female body and power as a path to the Beloved, alongside a ghazal by contemporary Punjabi poet Tahira Sra, which reclaims balance and agency within the male–female relationship. 

These narratives are both contemporary and timeless, offering a richer, more complex portrait of what it means to be Aurat—a woman—not a possession. In a patriarchal society intent on controlling how women live and express themselves, this work asserts a deeper, more nuanced view of womanhood in Pakistan.

Kathak  - one of the eight classical dance forms of India, known for its intricate footwork, rhythmic spins, expressive gestures, and storytelling tradition. Under Mughal patronage (16th–18th centuries), Kathak transformed from devotional storytelling into a refined court art, marked by geometric patterns, dazzling spins, intricate footwork, and themes of love, beauty, and Sufi devotion woven with earlier Hindu narratives.

Nastaliq Calligraphy - Known as the ‘bride of calligraphy’ for its elegance and grace, Nastaliq is a highly stylized form of Persian and Urdu script. Its flowing, curved, and diagonal strokes seem to cascade or hang in suspension, giving the writing a graceful, almost dance-like quality. Traditionally a male-dominated art form, often tied to Islamic scripture, Nastaliq has been reclaimed by Maryam Rahman to inscribe the names of women in contemporary Pakistani society

Music & Poetry - Ek Toona - Bulleh Shah (Excerpt)
Tuune achamba gaavaan gi nī maiñ pyārā yaar manāvāñgī
I will sing a spell, and I will bring back my dear beloved.
Tuune nuuñ paḌh phūkāñgī sūraj agan jalāvāñgī
I will recite and blow upon it, I will set the sun’s fire alight.
añkhiyāñ kājal kaale bādal bhavāñ se aag lagāvāñgī
With eyes lined in kohl, like dark clouds circling, I will ignite fire with my brows.
satt samundar dil de andar dil se lahar uThāvāñgī
Within my heart lies the seven seas, and I will lift a wave from my heart.
bijlī ho kar chamak Drāvāñ maiñ bādal ghir ghir jāvāñgī
Becoming lightning, I will flash and strike; I will gather like thickening clouds.

Pehli Gal - Tahira Sra - excerpt
Pehli gal kay Saari Galti marein nahin
Jakey merey vi, ki main teri nahin?
First, not every fault rests on me.
And if some blame is mine, are we not bound as one?

Joshua Sailo

Bangalore, India

Joshua Sailo’s anti-disciplinary approach weaves through dance, music, illustration and design. His creative practive involves artistic collaborations across various mediums, exploring themes of identity and power from a queer indigenous lens.
With Project Romei, Joshua gathers folktales, forgotten beliefs and oral traditions from Mizoram to create new systems of improvisation and composition that looks to the body as a living archive for storytelling, expression, accessing the collective memory, and a celebration of togetherness.

Leia Devadason

Berkeley, CA

Leia Devadason is a writer, composer, and dance-learner from Singapore, who tread a meandering desire path to the Bay Area where she now studies (what she calls)“counterclassical” Indian dance.
Leia has performed Odissi in Singapore and the Bay, acted as dramaturg for intercultural music and dance performances, and directed dance films that explore the ways the labour of dancing impress upon bodies — contrary to the fictions that most dance performances sustain.
In her new work, she unravels the questions, “What do we inherit and what do we do with it?” through film, movement, the performance of typing — and the text that it generates. Reimagining the act of genealogy-making, Leia celebrates existential mixedness in the minutiae of relationships, ways of speaking and eating, and queerness in relating, understanding, and being within her intergenerational “Indian”family back home.

VIDEO CREDITS
Camera & cinematography: Yulia Khvan
Music: Dion Nataraja
Cast: the Letchamanan family
Special thanks: Gerald Sim

Funders

Unrehearsed Artist Residency is created by Nava Dance Theatre, and is a part of the Unrehearsed Activism program, supported by the California Arts Council Impact Grant, San Francisco Arts Commission, Zellerbach Family Foundation, general operating grants, and individual donors. Consider donating to keep this program going! All donations are tax deductible in the US.

NAVA DANCE THEATRE IS A 501(C)3 REGISTERED NON-PROFIT ORGANIZATION.

Special thanks

We would like to thank those who supported this work through community engagement programs, being present for work-in-progress sharings, having 1:1 conversations with many artists, and advising on the direction of this program. We would like to especially thank ALL the artists in this years URP cohort, for being so open to process over product and really digging deep into their work.

URP Leadership

Program Director: Nadhi Thekkek

Programs Manager: Purna Venugopalan

Initial co-creator and past Project Director: Tanu Sreedharan