Ananya Chatterjea Overview

Dr. Ananya Chatterjea is a dancer, choreographer, dance scholar and dance educator, who is currently an Associate Professor in the Department of Theater Arts and Dance, and the Director of Dance at the University of Minnesota, Minneapolis. Chatterjea is also the... [more]

Dr. Ananya Chatterjea is a dancer, choreographer, dance scholar and dance educator, who is currently an Associate Professor in the Department of Theater Arts and Dance, and the Director of Dance at the University of Minnesota, Minneapolis. Chatterjea is also the Artistic Director of Ananya Dance Theater, a company made up of women and one which focuses on themes of social justice. Chatterjea's writing on dance is widely respected. She believes in the integral interconnectedness of her creative and scholarly research. Her book, Butting out! Reading cultural politics in the work of Chandralekha and Jawole Willa Jo Zollar, was published by Wesleyan University Press in 2004. Chatterjea was trained initially in Indian classical and folk dance forms, and at a young age became very skilled in the Odissi style of classical dance. She later became disillusioned with the commercialization of such classical forms and interested in developing contemporary Indian dance form. Her choreography is both fierce and feminine, committed to raising awareness for justice. She thinks of her work in dance as a "call to action". [show less]