Work

Choreography by Amita Batra

What is our obsession with Feeling Good?

Official Selection for IMARP Brazil & Flick Video Dance Festival

Beneath the cyclical/robotic nature of our technology and numbers-driven world, there exists the rawness of the human spirit which leads us to the truth within.

Official Selection for Híbrido - Festival Brasileiro de Videodança

An exploration of the individual journey within society

an exploration of the monotony that exists in the cycle of life. Once achieved the top of the hierarchy, one may realize that he or she is not actually in control & the only way to break the cycle is to exit it.

An exploration of the idea that created identities do not surpass raw human nature

An optical illusion due to atmospheric conditions

Giving yourself permission to explore all the sides of you

A Bollywood storytelling piece

What happens when you try to escape your childhood?

Amita Batra as Sita, exploring the Ramayana through an interpretation that is different from normal

Set in NYC, this Modern Kathak class is rooted in women empowering themselves and one another. As women we are often conditioned to bear the pain of others at the sacrifice of our own well-being. This class is a healing moment to remind ourselves to live for ourselves and to empower the woman around us in the process of that existence. **Modern Kathak is an experimental dance style which draws from the ideologies and techniques of Modern/Contemporary dance and Kathak, the Indian classical art of storytelling.

An exploration of the journey of music present within Yun Hi Chala from Swades and a lesson on training the ear to allow music to fill our mind/body/soul. This Modern Kathak Workshop by Amita Batra took place in both Bay Area, California and New York, NY. Modern Kathak is an experimental dance style which draws from both.

Hosted in the Bay area's Mona Khan Company, this Modern Kathak class by Amita Batra explored the idea of savoring the silence in one's own company, taking a moment to breathe, and simply exist.

An exploration of two voices in our heads: that of self doubt and that of belief in oneself.

So many love songs tell us how to love others. In this class, we used those lyrics to love the only person who will be there every single day: ourself.

Amita Batra's Modern Kathak story class in which students were given a specific prompt and characterizations in order to interpret this piece. Set to the song Hum Hain Iss Pal Yahan, the story of Memory explores the idea of the strength of the memories that exist within us through Modern Kathak body language.

A prayer for the world to heal.

A lesson on playing multiple characters in space

This class was designed with the goal to help students understand how Sufi principles are prevalent in a secular space & the idea of submerging in one's passion.

This Los Angeles Workshop was a take on Halloween, in which students channeled the ghosts of their minds and became their greatest fears.

The murder mystery storytelling dance class is an original immersive concept by Amita Batra, using movement, guided improv, and character development to discover the unknown killer of each group. The experimental class focused storytelling as a driver of the movement and not the other way around.

The expression of sensuality in an unconventional way. Emotional vulnerability captured through subtle movement and the eyes.

This Modern Kathak class aims to unite us in the feeling of “home,” despite what that home may tangibly be for each of us.

Lord Shiva of Hindu mythology is known as the Destroyer of Evil. When viewed solely as a character, we see his peaceful nature that seamlessly transforms into a violent one, a quality that we as individuals have within us, most commonly seen through the form of vengeance as found through the journey of the workshop. The goal of the workshop was to experiment with the movement and channel this destructive character to tell the stories from within through movement mostly inspired by Kathak, the Indian Classical art of storytelling, and modern/contemporary.

The very first Modern Kathak Class, touching on the fundamentals of what it means to use your body to tell a story.