From The UpTake, a profile of Ananya Dance Theatre and founder Ananya Chatterjea:
Ananya Dance Theatre's performances are about more than entertainment. Their purpose is to make you think. To make you think about how oil companies are destroying the environment. To make you think about how environmental destruction hurts women around the world. And while using dance might not result in bills or ballots, it can achieve social change in different ways.
Ananya Chatterjea, a 48-year-old native of Calcutta, India, moved to Minnesota in 1998 and founded Ananya Dance Theatre in 2004 to bring women of color together in a safe place and explore social justice through dance.
Chatterjea believes her mission is to transport both her dancers, and the audience, to uncomfortable places and force them to confront issues that society too often ignores, such as environmental destruction and systemic violence against women.
Read the full profile at The UpTake.