Notable performance experience

ABOUT THE COMPANY

Project Convergence is an American dance company that is home to the union of the Bharatanatyam and American tap dance. The company is bi-costal with home bases in New York City and Seattle. Lauded by both the New York Times and The Hindu, the company presents an experience simultaneously familiar and unfamiliar to audiences by uniting Indian and African-American cultures in the universal language of rhythm. In doing so, they show how two cultures can be united seamlessly without erasing the unique identity of either. The company’s creative team has experience across American classics such as STOMP and 42nd Street, and Indian staples such as Mystic India: The World Tour and Chennai’s Marghazi Festival. The company has been featured in The Guardian,WNYC (New York Public Radio), and The Dance Enthusiast. They have appeared at many high-profile events, including the Indo-American Art Council’s Erasing Borders Dance Festival at  Alvin Ailey American Dance Theatre, Lincoln Center’s Out of Doors Series, and a United Nations private event at the Houston Texan’s NRG Stadium. It’s work is supported by residencies at the American Tap Dance Foundation and Premiere Dance Center. Excerpts of their show Taalam (Rhythm) have played to a sold out 5,000 person audience at Damrosch Park at Lincoln Center and the Citigroup Theatre at Alvin Ailey.

MISSION

At its core, Project Convergence aims to dismantle the perception that traditional and “cultural” dance forms are niche arts forms inaccessible to a broad audience. Our mission is to grow the audience for these dance forms across a multicultural and multigenerational audience. We aim to do this in three ways. First, by curating performance art that encourages cross-pollination and captivates cross-cultural audiences, without compromising integrity. Second, to educate our audiences on the broad inequities in how the U.S. systemically subsidizes a narrow set of dance forms, and therefore raise support for a wider diversity of dance. Third, to provide professional caliber educational opportunities, ensuring the joy of dance reaches individuals of all skill levels. While we currently focus on art forms from the Indian and American diaspora, our end-vision encompasses creating a community of like-minded artists encompassing a vast swath of under-represented dance forms

In practice this mean that we seek to:

1. Use specific terminology like “Bhangra”, “American tap dance”, B-Boying”, and “Bharatanatyam” as opposed to generalized terms such as “Bollywood”, “Tap”, “Hip Hop” and “Indian Classical”. 

2. Include historical context, technical foundations, and injury prevention as part of our dance classes instead of only teaching a pre-choreographed routine

3. Perform in spaces where these dance forms are not traditionally showcased as a means of engaging with audiences outside the norm

4. Educate audiences to the reality that all dance forms require rigor to perfect, not just the ones that institutions call “classical”. 

5. Advocate to include talk-backs, panels, and workshop classes as part of our performances, and eventually curate performance opportunities that do the same.