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Indian Letters: A Creation Residency On MV

Arts and Entertainment

September 14, 2023


 Join us for a creation residency and workshop performance by Thresh, presented by Cadenza Artists; Works & Process at the Guggenheim; Circuit Arts and The Yard.

This Week At The Yard

Indian Letters

Creation Residency with a public presentation & conversation September 17th, 7 pm at The Grange Hall located at 1067 State Rd, Vineyard Haven, MA 02568

This immersive digital-theater project is a collaboration between Preeti Vasudevan (Artistic Director, Thresh) and Amar Ramasar (Former Principal dancer NYCB) about two people, both dancers, who rediscover themselves through a dynamic dialogue of cultural exchange by asking the question "where is home?" and to throw new light on issues of race, assimilation, faith and identity in the twenty-first century. 

Indian Letters uses previous footage and new footage to integrate media into the staged work AND to create a full dance film.

Click the image above to enjoy performance footage.

Artist In Residency

Amar Ramasar + Preeti Vasudevan

In Residency September 10-18, 2023

Indian Letters initially started as a dialogue in 2016 between dancers, Amar Ramasar (Former Principal dancer NYCB) and Preeti Vasudevan (artistic director, Thresh), seeking to find a common route to identity through their respective classical languages of ballet and bharatanatyam. The project, originally called Etudes, developed into an intimate dialogue of friendship, curiosity and growing trust.

However, in 2018, during the peak of Ramasar’s professional career, he was impacted greatly by allegations connected with the #MeToo movement. During this critical time, Vasudevan was one of the first female choreographers to extend support to Ramasar and continue working with him, bringing a deeper impact into their work through these dark times. A major part of this gesture was a three week journey to India, where the two dancers immersed themselves in experiencing their shared heritage – Indian. This journey alongside their growing trust in each other and shared stories is the foundation of Indian Letters, where these two dancers share their private world with the larger community making their personal experiences instantly universal, opening up deep and vulnerable questions of individual and communal identity and discovering the notion of home.

Learn more about Preeti here and Amar here.

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