PARIJATA DANCE COMPANY
Mohan Kulasingam, Aditi Dhruv, Riyo Mito in Make Space.
about the ENSEMBLE
Parijat began Parijata Dance Company (formerly Parijat Desai Dance Company) as an ensemble of dancers based in Los Angeles in 2000 to explore ways to hybridize Indian classical and contemporary dance techniques and to experiment with various choreographic approaches. She also investigated new ways to work with Carnatic and Hindustani music systems to generate scores for contemporary dance. Parijat created works including Thaka Dimi, Rewired, The Wall, Quiet/Fire, Malaysia, Make Space, and Songs To Live For with the company. During this period Parijat collaborated with various musicians including Taiko master Kenny Endo, violin virtuoso Arun Ramamurthy, and table/jazz drums expert Sameer Gupta.
While based in Los Angeles, Parijat (solo) and the PDC ensemble were presented by venues including Highways Performance Space, California Plaza, and the J. Paul Getty Museum; Parijat won a Lester Horton Award for Performance, Durfee Foundation Artist Fellowship, a commission from Grand Performances/LA, and a three-year California Arts Council grant. She was in Attakalari Centre for Movement Arts’s ChoreoLab and Bangalore Biennale; and apprenticed for Shobana Jeyasingh Dance Company/UK.
Parijat shifted to New York City in 2004 and continued creating and performing with her ensemble until 2013. She has been presented by venues including Danspace Project, Tribeca Performing Arts Center, Queens Museum, Asia Society, National Centre for the Performing Arts (Mumbai), and The Dance Centre/Vancouver—around NYC, Houston, Chicago, Boston, SF Bay Area, Los Angeles, Vancouver, and all over India. The choreographic research she did 2000–2013 continues to impact her current projects and collaborations,
See also Past Works and Recent Works.