Tehzeeb explores South Asian culture through a contemporary and queer lens. Blending classical movement with subversive flair, Tehzeeb celebrates the intersections of heritage and queerness, asking: what power, beauty, and resistance emerge when tradition meets self-expression?

Length: 10 minutes

“Mangalacharan” is the traditional invocation that begins an Odissi Indian classical dance recital. The lyrics are in praise of Ganesh, the remover of obstacles in Hindu belief. What might it feel like to be free from the obstacles of the present? Can we imagine a world where possibilities are truly infinite? How might it feel to soar past these boundaries?

Length: 10 minutes

“Pallavi” refers to abstract “pure dance” pieces within the Odissi repertoire that elaborate a specific musical scale and rhythmic meter through complex counter melodies, rhythms, and shapes. We reimagine the Pallavi beyond the confines of “pure dance,” purity, genre, and the constricting forces that restrain our movement and freedom.

Length: 12 minutes

“Batu” in its traditional, “classical” form, retains influences from the sensual temple sculptures of Odisha. In our reinterpretation of “Batu,” we foreground this queerness and celebrate intimacy, sensuality, and the endurance of queerness against erasure.

Length: 9 minutes

Who does the world render voiceless? And what might the voiceless tell us if we listened in? What dissent remains cloaked by silence? Can we imagine otherwise?

Length: 12 minutes

Length: 12 minutes

Length: 6 minutes

Length: 5 minutes

We make visible the invisible work of women; the domestic work that is neither paid for not acknowledged. Inspired by artist Jayeti Bose’s artwork, we contrast the physical labor with the joy and leisure that women could experience if free from the patriarchal bounds of duty.

Length: 7 minutes

A conversation about origins and the concept of home. Bringing together personal narratives of being an immigrant and a first-generation Indian-American, Shuruaat explores the dilemma of belonging.

Length: 5 minutes

While queer love stories have begun to make their way into the mainstream, they are often riddled with pain, sacrifice, and hurt, rather than joy and resilience. We offer a story of love flourishing, and bring to the forefront stories that remain underrepresented. Can all forms of love exist and thrive, outside the confines of religion, culture, and prejudice?

Length: 7 minutes

Inspired by primal movements, animal instincts and rhythmic play. An ode to the untamed and the wild in nature and within ourselves.

Length: 6 minutes