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| Curators |
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 Rajika Puri Curatorial Statement
The curating job gets harder each year - for a wonderful reason - we receive more and more applications as news of the festival - and recognition of its reach - spreads further and further. We had applications from small towns in India, and from big cities in Europe, from budding artists as well as performers of the first rank. We were a little alarmed at how many dancers offer traditional Bharatanatyam even if with new works. Our brief is to present the amazing diversity of 'Indian dance' from the various classical traditions to folk forms - of rural communities as well as those of big cities like Bollywood dance. At one point we had to scramble to request performers of forms other than Bharatanatyam to apply and are now delighted to have represented in our roster, not only five major classical forms, but also contemporary dance based on Bharatanatyam, and the very popular dances of a snake charmer 'gypsy' community, considered by Spanish gypsies to be a precursor to their Baile Flamenco. We are very proud of the day sessions: workshops by leading performers in their forms, two excellent films - and one of the film-makers - as well as a roundtable on how non-Indian perspectives affect our work.
Thank you, Aroon for continuing to do this festival in hard times, to Jonathan for hosting us outdoors and being so much part of our team, to participants for bringing your talents to our 'show', to Uttara for being such a complement to myself, and to Leena and Kei for keeping us in line!
Rajika Puri trained in Bharatanatyam and Odissi, and performed internationally in solo recitals, including a command performance for the President of Mexico. Currently, she focuses on developing different kinds of danced stories in which she sings, chants and narrates texts - in English and in Sanskrit – as she dances. (cf her "Ted India" INK talk on 'The Importance of Myth") Major productions: Union Severed (Asia Society, ’05), Conversations with Shiva, (Joyce SoHo,’07), Devimalika (Duke @ 42nd St, ’08), Tapasya (Joyce SoHo, ’09). Her latest work is an hour long retelling of the life of 'Helen of Troy': ELENI of SPARTA (Epic Women Festival, Chennai & Sacred River Festival, Maheshwar).
An MA in the ‘Anthropology of Movement’ (NYU), Rajika writes, lectures, and gives workshops on Indian dance and theater, including pre-performance talks for Indian dance shows (e.g. World Music Institute @ NYU Skirball). She also co-curates World Music. |
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 Uttara Asha Coorlawala Curatorial Statement
Co-curating the Erasing Borders dance festivals is a most amazing experience. Every year so far I have marveled at the number of applicants, and that they travel from so far on a shoe string to give so much of themselves in performances and workshops. This year we see wonderful choreography and sophisticated dancing, dances based on classics of Indian poetry and thought. We see that the co-mingling or east and west has happened already and repeatedly in the way that the 'traditional" dances are presented; creativity infusing movements of disparate vocabularies has moved in two directions, the self-exoticizing Bollywood genres, and in contemporary south Asia based work. We are honored by the discernment of audiences (specially when they "get it' ) and the generosity and support of that toughest of the tough - the New York critics! As a curator I confess being deeply conflicted about inviting dancers to self-exploit but when I do see them dance, I am so proud of how beautifully they do dance. Why? Why?? Why??? The only reason that comes to my mind, and it is echoed in the statements of many of the dancers, could be that Dance has to be the most complete experience of being alive...and dancers share that experience with audiences... in some magical way - we all feel more alive....
It has been my honor with work with my longtime friends - IAAC CEO Aroon Shivdasani and co-curator and patron of dance Rajika Puri, and gentle volunteers Kei Phillips and Leena Sukumar who witness our stormy exchanges with understanding and humor.
Uttara Asha Coorlawala teaches dance courses at Barnard College/Columbia University, and at the Alvin Ailey American Dance School Professional Program. Earlier, her solo show brought modern dance, Bharatanatyam and yoga, to stages of India, Europe, East Europe, Japan and the United States as she represented both the USA and India as a cultural representative. She served as a Performing Arts advisor to the late Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi, the National Center of Performing Arts, Mumbai, and greatly enjoys the challenges and social exchanges of co-curating the Erasing Borders Dance Festival, New York City. Uttara has served on various global dance research (CORD) and educational (International Baccalaureate or IB) committees. Her articles have been published in Discourses in Dance, Dance Research Journal and anthologies. Recently awarded the Sangeet Natak Akademi ward for pioneering choreography, she is even more invested in the ongoing culture wars around global re-flows of body knowledges. |
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| The Indo-American Arts Council is a 501 ©3 not-for-profit secular arts organization passionately dedicated to promoting, showcasing and building an awareness of artists of Indian origin in the performing arts, visual arts, literary arts and folk arts. For information please visit |
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