Careers in the Performing Arts Outside of Being a Creative [Dance Workshops & Conversation Series]
Event Details
Date: Thursday, March 11th
Time: 6pm PT / 9pm ET
Duration: 1.5 hrs
Location on the Festival Map: ‘Pavilion’
Speakers: Heena Patel, Meera Dugal, Arpita Mukherjee
Moderator: Neha Gandhi
In partnership with MELA Arts Connect
This Session
Artists are not the only people who can have successful and fruitful careers in live performing arts. Join our panel for a discussion that pulls back the curtain on the big, bright world of performing arts management, production and more with Heena Patel, Creative Producer, Cultural Strategist, and CEO of MELA Arts Connect; Meera Dugal, an independent artist curator and strategist; and Arpita Mukherjee, Co-Founder and Artistic Director of Hypokrit Theatre.
Speakers
Heena Patel is cultural strategist, creative producer, coach for creatives, facilitator, and gathering designer. The founder and CEO of MELA Arts Connect, her work has focused on nurturing the ecosystem around South Asian performing arts and community. Over the years and through MELA, she's assumed the roles of booking agent, manager, dancer, musician, teaching artist, and diversity and equity advocate. Recent credits as a producer and artistic director include the multidisciplinary stage show Bollywood Boulevard, immersive dance experience Garba360, and desi:NOW - a showcase of hyphenated South Asian identities. Heena Patel has facilitated the commissioning and/or presentation of numerous South Asian productions and artists such as Kathakaar, Raghu Dixit, Indian Ocean, Mystic India, Shilo Shiv Suleman, and more at venues such as Lincoln Center, Kennedy Center, NJPAC, Wolf Trap, Pittsburgh Cultural Trust, and the MET. As a cultural strategist and consultant, she supports organizations in developing long-term strategies for community building with the South Asian diaspora. She also works with South Asian creatives as a coach around strategy and mindset to build a careers in the arts. Heena was an ISPA Fellow and APAP Leadership Fellow. She serves on the board of NAPAMA (North American Performing Arts Agents and Manager) and is a member of CIPA (Creative & Independent Producers Alliance) and WOCA (Women of Color in the Arts).
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Meera Dugal is a super helpful fan. As a producer, curator, and strategist for in-person and virtual events, she works relentlessly and passionately to connect people for ecstatic experiences with the performing arts. Meera is currently the Artistic Producer for the New York Public Library for Performing Arts at Lincoln Center. Previously, Meera has worked with leading arts organizations in New York City ranging from globalFEST, The National Jazz Museum in Harlem, Arts Brookfield, and Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts. In addition to her work at NYPL, Meera is a member of Women of Color in the Arts (WOCA) and serves on the Advisory Board for Brooklyn Raga Massive. www.meeradugal.com
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Arpita Mukherjee (she/her/hers) is the Artistic Director and co-founder of Congressional Award–winning Hypokrit Theatre Company and the Festival Chair for Tamasha for South Asian performing artists. Upcoming: Running by Danny Pudi (East West Players/Enacte/Hypokrit), Islands of Contentment by Dipti Brahmandkar (Hypokrit/The Tank). Recent:. Jump by Charly Evon Simpson (APAC), House of Joy by Madhuri Shekar (San Diego Rep), Eh Dah? Questions For My Father by Aya Aziz (Next Door at NYTW), Elements of Change by Divya Mangwani (Rattlestick Playwrights Theater, UNICEF). Development: American Hunger by Nikhil Mahapatra (Dramatists Guild Foundation), One Way by Ben Bonnema and Christopher Staskel (NAMT), Maya by Cheeyang Ng and Eric Sorrels (Live & In Color), Citizen Scientist by CQ (Barrington Stage Company Playworks Weekend), Reclaiming Our Time: A Concert (MTF at Joe’s Pub). Arpita has developed work at WP Theater, the Public Theater, The New Group and Ma-Yi Theatre amongst others. She is a 2020-2021 Clubbed Thumb Directing Fellow, 2019 SDC Denham Fellow, a 2018-2020 Womens Project Lab Member and a 2018 Eugene O’Neill National Directing Fellow. She is an alumna of the Lincoln Center Directors Lab. Arpita was selected as a 2019 Mabou Mines Resident Artist, a 2019-2020 LMCC Governors Island Artist-in-Residence, and the 2019 Iowa State University Artist-in-Residence. Arpita is currently the book writer for Monsoon Wedding musical and is developing several film and TV projects in India and USA.
About Mela Arts Connect
MELA Arts Connect is a cultural consultancy and production company for South Asian performing arts. MELA's mission to amplify South Asian performing arts and culture, particularly within the mainstream performing arts sector and build cultural equity within the sector. Founded and led by Heena Patel, MELA Arts Connect has facilitated the commissioning and/or presentation of numerous South Asian productions and artists such as Kathakaar, Bollywood Boulevard, desi:NOW, Raghu Dixit, Indian Ocean, Mystic India, Shilo Shiv Suleman, and more at venues such as Lincoln Center, Kennedy Center, NJPAC, Wolf Trap, Pittsburgh Cultural Trust, Yerba Buena Gardens Festival, and The MET.
About Product of Culture
Product of Culture is a WOC founded and funded collective that amplifies brown brands and creatives with strategy, content, and experiences rooted in culture. We build opportunities for brown brands and creatives to connect and collaborate with each other and elevate their work through culture-forward spaces, stages, and stories. Our brands include The Founder’s Summit, the South Asian Film Festival of America and Product of Culture Shop.
***This event is included in the following tickets:
Dance Workshops & Conversation Series
In partnership with Mela Arts Connect - The Dance Workshops Pass provides you with access to all dance workshops and discussions.