Chitresh Das Dance Company

Bay Area Asian/Asian-American/Pacific Islander Dance 2006 2012

The Chitresh Das Dance Company was founded in 1980 and is dedicated to the preservation, promotion and education of Kathak dance and Indian culture.  Led by Pandit Chitresh Das, an NEA National Heritage Fewllow, and based in San Francisco, the company performs internationally and most frequently throughout the U.S., Canada, and India.  The Chitresh Das Dance Company’s mission is to produce exemplary traditional, innovative, and collaborative works of North Indian classical Kathak dance; increase awareness of Kathak dance; andtrain future generations and build local, national, and international community support for the Kathak tradition.

In 2012, Chitresh Das Dance Company received a grant from  ACTA’s Living Cultures Grants Program  to support a focused artistic and leadership development program for teen students.  Under the direction of master artist Pandit Das, members from the Chhandam Youth Dance Company will have opportunities to advance their training. They will be able to work at an artistic professional level as well as formalize a mentorship role that enables teens to work with the next generation of youth, who will then enter the artistic and leadership program, making it self-sustaining for future generations.

In 2008, a contract from ACTA’s Traditional Arts Development Program, hired executive coach Lisa Berg to hold thirteen coaching sessions with Chitresh Das Dance Company’s executive director Celine Schein.

In 2006, the Chitresh Das Dance Company received a grant from ACTA’s Living Cultures Grants Program to produce Kathak at the Crossroads, International Festival & Symposium in September 2006.  The three-day event gathered artists, scholars, teachers, presenters, critics, funders, students, and the general public in a comprehensive look at one of India’s classical dance forms.

The following clip features students of the Chhandam Youth Dance Company in their performance of Ramayana: