July Artist Spotlight: Kathak Dancer & Choreographer Rita Mustaphi

Hi Rita, thank you so much for taking time out of what I know is a very busy period for you to tell us a little more about you and your work. Can you fill us in on your background and what your art form is?

I was born and raised in Kolkata, India. I graduated from the University of Calcutta with a major in physiology and Rabindra Bharati University with a major in dance. Later, I became a disciple of Pandit Birju Maharaj, the legendary master of Kathak dance. He taught me to love dance as though it were human, to feel its all-encompassing beauty and to center myself within my body. I have constantly craved new movement experiences and opportunities to develop my skills to enhance the stories that I feel so passionate about. In the beginning, it was the pure joy of moving and being able to express my emotions and dramatic impulses. With further training and awareness dance became so much more. Dance is a place for investigation, experimentation, struggle, desire and the opportunity to take risks, fall and rise! Nature is my inspiration, space is my canvas, and as I experience the world in motion, I create moving paintings that resonate on a deeper level.

When did you first become interested in dance? How did it happen? Who were some of your influences?

This question takes me back to my childhood when I was suffering from rickets - a softening and weakening of bones in children usually due to inadequate vitamin D. The pediatrician suggested to my parents that I needed physical exercise and to my parents surprise, they found me moving gently as well as fiercely in front of large mirrors in our home and that gave them the incentive to let me learn Indian classical dance, probably at the age of 4 or 5! Without this insight of my need to dance by my parents, I probably would not have learnt the classical dance form Kathak and been dancing today.

Can you tell us about your dance company, Katha Dance Theatre and how that began?

After immigrating to the US in 1970, I started performing Kathak dance in New York and then in Minnesota. In 1978 in response to demands from the local Asian Indian community, I began teaching in the Twin Cities. Then in 1987, I realized my dream by founding a professional company and school of Kathak dance, Katha Dance Theatre (KDT). As with any endeavor, it took a tremendous amount of energy and drive to create something from nothing. KDT was Minnesota’s first Asian Indian dance company, and it is the only Kathak dance company in Minnesota and one of only 12 professional Kathak companies in the United States. My company of eight professional dancers has performed numerous shows from an active repertory of substantial works. Works that I have choreographed in the past 33 years, with approximately two new shows per year! I have received three McKnight Fellowships for choreography and Dancer Fellowship from Minnesota State Arts Board. Among other dance commissions, the notable is a commission from the Ordway Center for performing arts in Saint Paul, Minnesota, which was the first commission the Ordway awarded to a local dance company. The above experiences have shaped my life, my theater, and my choreography.

What do you get out of teaching versus creating/performing your own work? What do you enjoy the most about teaching?

Teaching dance and choreographing dance are two very satisfying elements in my life. I believe that a strong choreographic piece begins with a strong intent and blossoms from there. My desire to create dance was born from an atmosphere of freedom, and ambience in which ideas and imaginations are encouraged and grow and flower.

In this time of virtual programming how are you adjusting? What do you find challenging? Any unexpected benefits?

COVID-19 crisis brought a lot of uncertainties among us all. For us at Katha Dance Theatre, the office and studio locations have been closed until further notice, we have made difficult decision to cancel upcoming performances and tour. We have decided to postpone school recitals and as any other dance organizations, we were also looking for ways to serve our community. We created events with the intention to bring the KDT community together to bond over a shared love of the arts. For one week we showed a benefit version of one of our recorded performances streamed on Vimeo. A donation was optional in conjunction with our venue of the Park Square Theater in St. Paul. We decided to postpone our performance of equality there to the November 2021. We introduced a student showcase series celebrating our student’s hard work. The monthly showcase takes the place of our school recital until in person event can safely resume. The unexpected benefits include virtual teaching through zoom, interacting with students as well as the parents and adult dancers in a very different way and saving the driving time to and from the studios.

Have you been working on any new projects lately?

Yes, my plate as well as Katha Dance Theatre’s plate is very full. Those projects that were postponed due to Covid are now opening at full swing. Our upcoming show ‘Of Equality’ is a very time appropriate work, a collaboration with composer and vocalist JD Steele, and poet Ifrah Mansour. KDT‘s company dancers will perform in this show in November 2021 at Park Square theater in downtown Saint Paul.

During this time of great change in Minnesota and around the world with the uprising of anti-racism work and recognition of white supremacy, how do you see the arts as fitting into that story?

Art and culture are essential to build a community. It has the power to make you understand the past and offers ideas on ways to share a more equitable future. Art and culture can act as tools to community development. It can help to strengthen cultural identity and heal trauma.

You joined the COMPAS roster back in 1987 and have been a teaching artist with us for 34 years! What’s it like to be a part of COMPAS for that long? Have you noticed any changes over that timespan?

I feel blessed that I am allowed to serve the community through the exceptional work that COMPAS does. Yes, I am one of the veteran artists of COMPAS, have seen changes in leadership, employees and programs and I must say, we evolved together. COMPAS and I have one thing in common and that is art! Over the years I have seen that COMPAS promotes arts by a diverse group of artists thus creating a culturally diverse community. COMPAS programs stimulates young minds by encouraging individual creativity, I am honored to be part of COMPAS roster with like-minded artists. Thank you COMPAS for all you do for the community and the artists.

How do you practice creativity in your everyday life?

I listen to my mind, I observe my surroundings, I take a stroll and think, I daydream, I dance and I create dance that transforms me!