THE KATHAK ENSEMBLE & FRIENDS CARAVAN INC
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Mission Statement
The Kathak Ensemble & Friends and its arts-in-education unit CARAVAN communicate the richness of pan-Indian cultures – Indian, Pakistani and Bangladeshi - through their arts. The techniques used include the classical North Indian dance style Kathak, its storytelling techniques, its accompanying Hindustani music, and contemporary movement and music vocabularies. Created in both classical Kathak and contemporary styles, the Ensemble’s programs encourage a dialogue with familiar American arts forms and less familiar world arts, demystifying unique details of pan-Indian culture and engaging performers and audience members in a journey of the imagination, revealing exotic other-ness as a variation of the common theme of human-ness.
About This Cause
Founded in 1978 and incorporated in 1997, The Kathak Ensemble & Friends and its arts-in-education unit CARAVAN seek to communicate the richness of pan-Indian cultures – Indian, Pakistani and Bangladeshi - through their arts, most specifically through the classical North Indian dance style Kathak, its storytelling techniques and its accompanying Hindustani music. The Ensemble is dedicated to perpetuating the art of Kathak, teaching the technique and creating performance opportunities for both student and professional Kathak dancers. Created in both classical Kathak and contemporary styles, the Ensemble’s programs encourage a dialogue with familiar American arts forms, demystifying unique details of pan-Indian culture and engaging performers and audience members in a journey of the imagination, revealing exotic other-ness as a variation of the common theme of human-ness. The Ensemble 1) teaches and performs classical north Indian Kathak dance; 2) creates new repertoire inspired by classical and modern Indian music, dance, art, poetry and mythology, also incorporating modern dance theater techniques; 3) teaches and rehearses established and new repertoire in preparation for performances; 4) presents in-school auditorium performances, residencies and staff development workshops through CARAVAN, its arts-in-education section; 5) facilitates lecture-demonstrations and workshops by eminent Kathak masters and scholars. To date The Kathak Ensemble & Friends CARAVAN Inc has presented thirty full-evening theater productions and many shorter works, choreographed by Artistic Director Janaki Patrik for both group and solo formats. The Ensemble's unique presentations have been enriched by collaborations with talented dancers, musicians, composers, choreographers, technical directors, costume and lighting designers, whose talents have contributed to fulfilling The Ensemble's artistic vision. The Ensemble has performed at major venues including Carnegie Hall, the Brooklyn Museum, the Metropolitan Museum, Symphony Space NYC, Bindadin Maharaj Rangmanch in Lucknow, St. Mark’s Danspace, the Philadelphia Museum of Art, the Glicker Milstein Theater at Barnard College and Asia Society NYC. Productions have included classical north Indian Kathak dance, contemporary dance inspired by Indian and Pakistani dance and texts, and dances interweaving classical Kathak with modern dance, tap and Flamenco.