Jonathan Hollander on Showcasing Indian Classical Dance at Battery Dance Festival

Among the dance companies from across the world, including some of the finest exponents of Indian classical will participate.

This year will feature a special collaboration with Radhika Jha and Rajesh Sai Babu Mayurbhanj Chhau Group celebrating India's Independence Day on August 15th.

Deccan Chronicle caught up with Battery Dance Founder and Artistic Director, Jonathan Hollander to know more about this.

Excerpts.

I had been working on the prospect of presenting a Mayurbhanj Chhau group for many years since I found the mix of martial arts, folk and classical elements all woven together in this compelling form to be a perfect offering for the American audience. Battery Dance was fortunate to receive generous support from the Indian Consulate General in New York and SBI/NYC as well as from our long-time patrons Anil and Kumud Bansal to underwrite the considerable costs of bringing a group all the way from India. I had begun discussing this idea with Rajesh Sai Babu, elder son of well-known Guru Janmejoy Sai Babu, the Sangeet Natak Akademie awardee and his exceptionally gifted team from Delhi. They have been rehearsing for months to prepare for their performances here at Battery Dance Festival and in Washington, DC at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts.

Last year, we were delighted to present two soloists in the intervals between the large phenomenal group works by Rudrakshya from Bhubaneswar; and featured the spectacular dancers Durgesh Gangani (Kathak) and Amarnath Ghosh (Kuchipudi), the latter so tragically killed in St. Louis a few months ago. As such, in the interval between Rajesh's group items, we will present the exquisite Radhika Jha, one of the leading exponents of Odissi dance in the style championed by her guru, the late Surendra Nath Jena.

This year's presentations continue Battery Dance's decades-long devotion to sharing the beauty and virtuosity of Indian classical dance with our audience in New York City. We are well aware of the exceptional talent that India boasts in the field of dance and have had many opportunities to perform in India and see the remarkable artists in their homes and studios in Mumbai, Ahmedabad, Vadodara, Lucknow, Kolkata, Hassan, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Chennai and, of course, Delhi. We feel it is our obligation to share what we've been privileged to experience with dance lovers in the U.S.

Ever since 1992, Battery Dance has enjoyed presenting Indian dance in New York City and facilitating national tours for many of the dance companies and artists. We've seen Indian dance gain in public awareness and critical attention in the media - a dramatic rise over the past 30+ years. It is an honor and privilege for us to continue promoting Indian dance and the inexhaustible storehouse of talented dancers and dance groups from India. We are already speaking with Indian Consul General Pradhan about next year since there is so much more to be done to raise the profile of Indian dance here.

Dance is a universal language and in this time when the world is facing so many conflicts, we all need to find ways to build trust and support collaborations, and dance is a proven way to bring people together. Battery Dance recently served as the focus for two U.N. Related events in which our work in the areas of conflict resolution and social cohesion of migrants and refugees were presented as models for others to emulate. I have been invited to speak at UNESCO Headquarters in Paris in September at a session entitled Culture of Peace. In our work across 75 countries, we have seen bridges formed on individual and institutional levels between people on opposite sides of political and/or social divides. We look forward to sharing our knowledge and evolving further in cooperation with our counterparts in India and around the world.

The Festival schedule is a cornucopia of different dance styles from the U.S. and many other countries such as Finland, Germany, Taiwan, Nigeria, Canada in addition to India. Our model is to include a melange of different dance companies on each evening so that our audience can experience the widest diversity possible. The India program is the only one that traditionally highlights the dances of a single country. This tradition reflects my own connection to India that began as a high school exchange student and continues to this day.

There is something truly magical about seeing dance with the sky, water and urban landscape as the background. And sitting with a huge number of people of all ages, backgrounds and experiences is, in itself, a feeling that harkens back to older times when technology, international travel and other modern "advances" had not yet transformed the way we all live.

Yes, certainly, we are always formulating plans for the near and distant future. Next year is Battery Dance's 50th Anniversary and the year after will be the 45th year of the Battery Dance Festival. We hope that India will feature prominently in both celebrations!