In thinking about performance space, I am repeatedly struck by the translations that happen in the course of shifting dances from one space to another. It’s interesting to note how we, as choreographers and dancers, mark and are marked by the spaces in which we perform. As a dancer trained in Indian classical dance, I am used to entering the performance space with a preconceived notion of its sacredness. Tradition requires taking off one's footwear and performing the bhumipranam (saluting the ground one will dance on) upon entering the space. This practice was completely harmonious with its setting when the dance was performed for the deities in temples and courtyards where no one would enter with shoes. The experience is very different in contemporary times with the performance shifting to the proscenium stage. Here, the dancer's efforts to ritualize the space is in awkward contrast with the booted feet of technicians who must render the space danceable before one can perform. Some of these disjunctions are the result of translations effected without negotiation. The transfer of Indian classical dance forms from the temple courtyard to the proscenium stage brings up questions that, very largely, have to do with spaces (their physical location) and audiences (their social and cultural influences). The question to be asked then is: How does the site of a performance change its premises, its formal aspects, and philosophical bases?

As a choreographer, I find that sites of performances have immense power to shape pieces. It is not just how and why we choose spaces, but how and why spaces choose us. Questions of access and audience are vital. The resistive and aggressive energies of hip-hop music and culture have a great deal to do with its location on the streets, a matter both of choice and of exclusion from other arenas. Street theatre about domestic violence, created and performed by women’s organizations in India, have everything to do with the audiences the women want to reach through the performances. These issues are increasingly important and have led me to present my work in more community-based spaces. As an artist-activist, I’m constantly addressing the kinds of emotions that are accessed through the performances as well as the kinds of experiences the audience brings with them.

My own experiences lie in creating a piece without specifically gearing it for presentation in a particular space. I prefer to work through the changes that become necessary as the piece travels from space to space. Because performance sites are socially and materially constructed, the focus is on the energies that recreate the piece. For instance, my dance Unable to Remember Roop Kanwar, which is performed by my company Women in Motion, is about domestic and state-supported violence against women. It is inspired by a particular act of violence in India and is always transformed by the spaces in which it’s performed. A performance inside a women’s shelter generates entirely different energies from a performance in a regular auditorium.

Unable to Remember Roop Kanwar reads differently in contexts built upon mainstream ideologies of diversity. These ideologies may not be accompanied by an understanding of cultural differences. In this setting, some members of the audience are likely to generalize that act of violence and castigate all Indian culture as "barbaric." This was my experience in presenting the piece at the Museum of Natural History in New York City for instance. But when I presented it at the Desh Pardesh International Conference/Festival in Toronto, Canada, the performance was attended by a grassroots audience of social workers and activists. Their response appeared to be predicated on a belief in the activist potential of art and a conviction about the global nature of violence against women.

Because I believe that my art is my activism, I perform my pieces in varied sites. But the greatest lessons learned have been in sites such as women’s shelters, where time and again, I am incredibly moved and inspired by the courage of women to stand up one more time. I perform with humility in such a space energized by the courage to leave oppressive situations, by hope for a better life, and by the demand for dignity. As a result of these experiences, I believe that energies transform pieces and spaces.

Ananya Chatterjea is a choreographer who heads the New York City dance company Women in Motion. She is also an assistant professor in the Department of Theatre Arts & Dance at the University of Minnesota and one of NYFA’s 1999 BUILD recipients.