Keisha Hutchins and Shoba Sharma

Together these artists will choreograph a piece in the Bharatanatayam tradition to be performed by Shoba, depicting the story relayed in an African American spiritual to be sung by Keisha. Using storytelling elements of both traditions, Keisha and Shoba will tell the story of the African slave through Indian classical dance, enabling the audience to view this experience from a different perspective and raise consciousness through the mixing of these art forms outside their native context. This project was born out of a desire to bring the African American and Indian American communities together for dialogue and exploration, understanding that both communities are very different and in some regions have very little communication with each other, but both experience racism.