Hi! I'm Aditi and welcome to my fundraising page for the Inaugural ANIKAYA Birds Intensive in Benin from June 13-23, 2024!

I am incredibly excited and thrilled to have been selected to participate in the Inaugural ANIKAYA Birds Intensive program in Benin! This intensive is a once-in-a-lifetime, unique cultural immersion experience that will allow me to strengthen my artistic practice and engage with global artists and cultures from around the world. I am reaching out to you now because I could use your support.

About Me:

My name is Aditi Dhruv, and as you all know, I am a performing artist based in New York for the past 30 years, a yoga instructor for the past 20 years, and most recently, received a graduate degree in Ethics & Society. In the many hats I wear, the thread undergirding everything is, for me, about engaging with people of different ages, experiences and backgrounds. I truly believe in the power of art and human connection to get to the "simplicity on the other side of complexity" (to quote Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr.) and move towards dialogue that crosses cultures and creates pro-social change.

Participating in this intensive this June will allow me to deepen my understanding of movement, culture, and community while fostering connections with artists and inter-generational communities in Benin.

About the Program:

The Inaugural ANIKAYA Birds Intensive is a unique opportunity to learn from renowned artists from around the globe. As of now, artists from the US, the EU, the Middle East, Mali and Benin - of varying ages and accessibilities - are slated to participate. The program will explore Benin's rich cultural heritage, and engage in meaningful exchanges with local communities. The program will immerse me in the choreographic world of the Birds, ANIKAYA’s Conference of the Birds ensemble, where I will learn the movement vocabulary of four individual 'Birds' and experience intricate, intertwined practices that bring together diverse artists and join into a deeply connected flock, reflecting the expansive fellowship of beauty of both the avian world as well as the human world.

Future intensive programs will be anchored in places that offer unique insights into the history of human movement & migration and provoke important conversations about our constructs of identity, community, history and the present moment.

This first ANIKAYA Birds Intensive will be hosted by Centre Chorégraphique Multicorps in Cotonou, Benin. Benin is at the epicenter of a global conversation on decolonization, repatriation of stolen art works, and is the spiritual center of the African and African diasporic religion of Vodou, and its descendants in the Americas and the Caribbean. In addition to learning about and experiencing the history, culture and arts of Benin, participants will study Beninese traditional dance with ANIKAYA artist and Multicorps faculty, Orphee Ahehehinnou.

The launch of this program will mark eight years of continuous collaboration between Multicorps and ANIKAYA.

About ANIKAYA:

Under the direction of Artistic Director, Wendy Jehlen, ANIKAYA was founded in 2003. ANIKAYA’s mission is to break down the perceived boundaries between people, cultures and art forms. ANIKAYA’s work falls into two symbiotic, porous categories - performance and community engagement. Both are centered around one essential change catalyst - kinesthetic empathy. ANIKAYA's work questions the boundaries that we imagine between ourselves and seeks to erase these illusory walls through an embodied practice of radical empathy.

About Wendy:

Wendy Jehlen’s career has been marked by international explorations, study and creative collaboration. With a degree in ritual and performance from Brown University and another degree in performance and religion in the former Persian world from Harvard Divinity School, Wendy engages in collaborations across languages, culture, media and genres. This practice takes her around the world to conduct workshops, collaborations and performances which she calls collectively 'Dance Diplomacy.' Her unique approach to choreography incorporates elements of Bharatanatyam, Odissi, Capoeira, Kalaripayattu, West African dance, Butoh, and a wide-range of Contemporary movement forms. Her emotionally powerful choreography has been created and performed in the US, Benin, Botswana, Brazil, Burkina Faso, Canada, Italy, India, Japan, Mali, Mozambique, Palestine and Turkey. (For more info on Wendy and ANIKAYA, please go to https://anikaya.org).

The Ask:

Participating in the ANIKAYA Birds Intensive requires significant financial investment, including travel expenses, accommodation, in-country costs and program fees. While I am committed to covering a portion of these costs myself, given that the deadline is close, I am reaching out to my community for assistance in making this opportunity a reality. Your support, of whatever amount, will help offset the expenses associated with this enriching experience.

**Deadline: June 13, 2024 (the first day of the intensive).**

Each and every contribution will help me reach my fundraising goal and make my dream of participating in this first ANIKAYA Birds Intensive a reality.

We live in interesting times and I understand things may be tough for many people right now. Any donation amount, even a seemingly 'small' contribution, will make a big difference. Your support means the world to me.

Gratitude:

Thank you in advance for considering supporting me on this journey. You are my community of beloved friends and family. Your generosity will help me enhance my skills, and broaden & reinforce my understanding of movement, culture, and community. I am VERY excited for this experience! In addition, your support will also contribute to the cultural exchange and artistic collaboration that ANIKAYA promotes.

If you have any questions or would like more information about the program, please don't hesitate to reach out to me directly.

Thank you so very much! ❤️