Dancers feel larger than life

Ananya Dance Theatre is a place where women of color can come together and express themselves through Indian dance.

Their technique is called "Yorchha," a made-up word that conveys three movements: yoga; Chhau, which is Indian martial arts; and Odissi, which is classical Indian dance. However, different styles of dance are also incorporated into Yorchha, which allows more creativity in performances.

Ananya Dance Theatre has 15 dancers of different ethnicities and dance backgrounds. Every year they come up with a message they would like to spread.

This year's theme is "Sutrajāl: Revelations of Gossamer," which, according to the dance company's website, is about a thread connection demonstrating how people can be delicate but strong, spun together as a spiderweb. Spiderwebs are carefully constructed, but once the threads are put together, they are strong.

The women come together to create stories and messages with Yorchha. Kealoha Ferreira, a dancer at the St. Paul site, works to bring different dancers together and create unity.

"It's hard in a good way, because sometimes the work we do is about amplifying and sharing light on the stories of women from global communities of color," Ferreira said. "These stories are often covered up, trying to be forgotten. In some ways there is a lot of digging and uncovering that can often bring up pain and trauma."

Because of this, Ananya Dance Theatre works to "get people to reflect" and "show the beauty of connections," Ferreira said.

Ananya Dance Theatre practices biomythography, which is a creative method created by Audre Lord for her book "Zami: A New Spelling of My Name." Biomythography is employed when choreography is partly researched, partly remembered and partly imagined. Every part of the dance is an important piece of choreography to share a touching message. When dancing, the movements are always exaggerated. The dancers are intentional in their movements. Some of the performances are inspired by African-American activists such as Lorde and Sonja Sanchez.

The dancers must balance their dancing with their families and careers. A lot of them are parents, have jobs and are still able to tour weeks at a time and attend practices. They realize they are "knowingly choosing a hard life," Ferreira said.

During the performances, the dancers show different perspectives through dance; all the perspectives show emotion through the facial expressions, arm movements, leg movements and the way they emphasize their gestures. Someone may be showing anger and sadness, while someone else is showing lust and desire.

The dancers have shown how they can use the art of Yorchha to bring people together. They have inspired the hearts and minds of their audiences through their movement and will continue to do so throughout the years.