ANANYA DANCE THEATRE, 2018-2022
O’SHAUGHNESSY AUDITORIUM & INTERNATIONAL TOURING
Choreographer & Artistic Director Ananya Chatterjea, Stage Director Marcus Young, Scenic Design Chelsea M. Warren, Costume Design Annie Cady, Lighting Design Kevin Jones, Production Photographer Isabel Fajardo, Bruce Silcox, Canaan Mattson
*see PORTFOLIO MATERIALS below
OVERVIEW: ADT is a dance company of femme artists of color. Our work provides an outlet for creative deep dives into global and social justice stories. We have worked on four productions together. Scenic requirements include: leaving open the full floor space for large ensemble dances: each object to have a spiritual dual resonance and all scenery and props fit into two large suitcases and one snowboarding bag for touring purposes. Solutions include a wide range of foldable fabrics, flying in scenic elements and lightweight materials whenever possible.
2022 Nün Gherāo: SURROUNDED BY SALT
“Nün Gherāo uses a 1978-79 massacre on the Marichjhapi Island in West Bengal, India, as its point of departure to explore betrayal, dispossession, and exile, and the desperate global resistance against great odds that fuels hope and survival.” Scenic design included recycled material created salt flat mandalas for both floor and backdrop formations and pouring of cork-based “salt” from multiple vessels and pitchers. (Production Photography: Canaan Mattson)
2021 DASTAK: I WISH YOU ME
Structured through four elemental journeys, Earth, Water, Fire, and Air, Dastak is a meditation on borders, loss, belonging, home, and liberation. Scenic design included four elemental scenic gestures which cumulatively fly in for each movement, including a moon circle and silver netting in the shape of a wave.
2019 SUTRAJAL: REVELATIONS OF GOSSAMER
Sutrajāl is set in the Broken City, where communities of women and femmes from across the world gather at night to dance off their frustrations and return to their struggles the next morning. As this production did not tour, we were able to build a series of platforms which were arranged in varying configurations throughout the movements. Additionally, hanging above were women's work objects.
2018 SHAATRANGA: WOMEN WEAVING WORLDS
Shaatranga is inspired by ancient Indian Ocean trade routes that connected parts of Asia, Africa, and South America. It is also inspired by shared practices and different methodologies of indigo-dyeing that existed in these communities. At the top of the show, a portion of the audience sat within a bandshell upstage behind transparent billowing strips of sails. During the last movement, the dancers brought on large fabric cylinders of blues and purples and wove a backdrop.
