Support Mala's School of Odissi Dance
Donation protected
When I was 9 years old, my mom enrolled me in classes with Mala’s School of Odissi Dance. For those of you unfamiliar with it, Odissi is an Indian classical dance form from the eastern state of Odisha in India. Based on archaeological evidence, it is believed to be the oldest surviving dance form of India. For my mom, Odissi was her way of keeping me connected to my Indian heritage. For me, Odissi became so much more – a gift of self-awareness, musicality, poetry, and divinity through dance. Founder Mala Desai, a skilled artist who trained under the legendary Padma Shri Guru Mayadhar Raut in New Delhi and has been running her school in New York since 2001, remains a close mentor and respected artist to me years after I completed my training.
Unfortunately, due to the COVID-19 crisis, Mala’s School of Odissi Dance is suffering from significant financial losses. The pandemic has pushed Mala to cancel two annual events, Kalanjali and Samarpan. Due to the cancellation of both classes and major performances, the school is incurring losses upwards of $3,000 over the next couple of months, plus an additional lack of funding estimated at $2,000 to secure spots for performances early next year.
Freelance artists across the country are dealing with substantial insecurity. But this is an especially trying time for immigrant artists – they rarely benefit from the level of patronage that keeps practitioners of mainstream art forms in America afloat. Odissi, which was once under threat of extinction during British colonial rule in India, now again confronts enormous external pressures as a result of the current public health emergency.
Please help Mala Desai keep this beautiful dance form alive and continue to share her unique knowledge with the community! We are struggling to prepare for upcoming group performances over this summer as well as early next year. Your contributions will support classes for current and aspiring young dancers and future performances in Manhattan, Queens, and Long Island.
Unfortunately, due to the COVID-19 crisis, Mala’s School of Odissi Dance is suffering from significant financial losses. The pandemic has pushed Mala to cancel two annual events, Kalanjali and Samarpan. Due to the cancellation of both classes and major performances, the school is incurring losses upwards of $3,000 over the next couple of months, plus an additional lack of funding estimated at $2,000 to secure spots for performances early next year.
Freelance artists across the country are dealing with substantial insecurity. But this is an especially trying time for immigrant artists – they rarely benefit from the level of patronage that keeps practitioners of mainstream art forms in America afloat. Odissi, which was once under threat of extinction during British colonial rule in India, now again confronts enormous external pressures as a result of the current public health emergency.
Please help Mala Desai keep this beautiful dance form alive and continue to share her unique knowledge with the community! We are struggling to prepare for upcoming group performances over this summer as well as early next year. Your contributions will support classes for current and aspiring young dancers and future performances in Manhattan, Queens, and Long Island.