Anurima Kumar - Body Watani: Soul Speak

Body Watani: soul speak is a drive-in dance performance consisting of three solos under the blue full moon and within the circle of car headlights. Body Watani is a practice reflecting on understanding that the body is a place where notions of ‘homeland’ live. Each short performance is a unique meditation on ancestral roots, internal and collective healing, and finding fire within our body soul.

Body Watani: soul speak is a drive-in dance performance, taking place in the rear municipal parking lot behind AANM. Tickets are sold one per vehicle and must be purchased online, in advance. $30 per vehicle. Only 20 tickets available per show! October is Domestic Violence Awareness Month. All ticket proceeds will support ACCESS ’ Domestic Violence Prevention Program. Please consider adding a donation to your purchase.

Anurima Kumar is a recent graduate from the University of Michigan and an interdisciplinary artist. She has been formally trained in Bharatanatyam, an Indian classical dance form, for over 15 years and works to integrate creativity with public health and social issues. She draws from her Indian heritage and American experience to address intergenerational barriers and storytell. Anurima was born and raised in Ann Arbor, Michigan and will be moving to New York City next year to pursue a Master’s in Public Health, while also exploring the point of intersection between visual and movement arts and community healing.

Leila Awadallah, current AANM artist-in-residence, is a Palestinian American artist working with embodied research and storytelling through dance performance composed within a human rights and social justice focus. Her artistic practice begins with ‘body watani’—centering the body as a sacred living archive of genetic/cellular memories of histories, lands and roots—a pathway towards healing and connectivity. Her projects and collaborations merge dance with mediums such as film, live music, theatre and durational installation performance pieces. She performed with Ananya Dance Theatre for 5 seasons, and is a dance teacher and cultural activist, born and based on Dakota land.

Elisandra Mairym Rosario is an artist, activist and curator of space, vibration, and frequency. Elisandra was born and raised in Chicago, Illinois, which along with her experience as a DJ, influences her attraction to social dance cultures. She uses her passion for curating social spaces, community engagement, and ownership of ancestry to fuel her dance and filmmaking. Elisandra is working towards an MFA in Dance at University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, and hopes to continue collaborating with artists in Detroit, Ypsilanti, and Dearborn, MI.