Choreographer/dancer Parijat Desai creates hybrids of contemporary, classical and community dance idioms, theater and other forms. She is ever curious to find ways to build bridges across movement languages. Desai has also explored site-based choreography working at both Islamic and modernist architectural sites in India, and has collaborated extensively with musicians to experiment with Indian classical music in contemporary dance scores. As an educator, Desai teaches contemporary dance and contemporary bharata natyam, and—as part of Dance In The Round—Gujarati circle dances. Desai has been an artist-in-residence with Movement Research, Tribeca Performing Arts Center, Stanford University’s Institute for Diversity in the Arts, Dance Center of Columbia College and Colorado College. Desai has received commissions from Grand Performances (LA), Danspace Project and Harlem Stage; she won the Lester Horton Dance Award for Individual Performance and NYFA BUILD, LMCC Creative Communities and Foundation for Contemporary Arts Emergency grants. She was nominated for a 2019 United State Artists Fellowship. parijatdesai.org

Project Description: Choreographer Parijat Desai will develop a model for working with community organizations by using her project Dance In The Round (DITR) that teaches circle dances from Gujarat, India. This DITR workshop will combine folk dance, creative movement/theater exercises and dialogue, as well as a DITR structure for public rallies and protests.