Movement Director / Co-Dramaturg

Ananya Chatterjea/ অনন্যা চট্টোপাধ্যায় ‘s work as choreographer, dancer, and thinker brings together Contemporary Dance, social justice choreography, and a commitment to healing justice. She is the creator of Ananya Dance Theatre’s signature movement vocabulary, Yorchhā, and is the primary architect of the company’s justice- and community-oriented choreographic methodology, Shawngrām. She is a 2011 Guggenheim Choreography Fellow, a 2012 and 2021 McKnight Choreography Fellow, a 2016 Joyce Award recipient, a 2018 UBW Choreographic Center Fellow, a 2019 Dance/USA Artist Fellow, and recipient of the 2021 A. P. Andersen Award.

Ananya Dance Theatre is a company of BIPOC cultural activists and women and femme dance artists who believe in the transformative power of dance. In dancing stories where their lives and dreams occupy the center, they shift the landscape of mainstream culture, build understanding about arts and social justice, and empower artistic voices.

Mehanaokala Hind is a Native Hawaiian cultural practitioner and Kumu Hula whose artistry is rooted in the sacred practice of oli — the chanted voice traditions that carry the breath, memory, and spiritual presence of the Hawaiian people across generations.

For Mehanaokala, oli is not performance. It is a living medium of connection — between practitioner and ancestor, between breath and cosmos, between the spoken name and the presence it calls forth. Her voice is an instrument shaped by deep cultural immersion and a profound reverence for the kaona woven into every chant.

As Kumu Hula of Hālau Nā Pua Maeʻole o Ka Wai Ola, she carries this tradition forward with her haumana — teaching that the voice is not merely sound, but a force that opens space, honors the sacred, and affirms the unbroken continuity of Hawaiian life.

Voice as offering. Voice as identity. Voice as aloha ʻāina made audible.