Studio Stories: Reminiscing on Twin Cities Dance with Rita Mustaphi - Season 12, Episode 142

Rita Mustaphi is choreographer, dancer, educator and a disciple of the living legendPandit Birju Maharaj in Kathak style of Indian classical dance. She is known for hervisionary approach and innovations in dance, her multi-disciplinary productionsincorporating spoken word, live and commissioned music, and the utilization ofproduction elements. She is Founder and Artistic Director of Katha Dance Theatre (est.1987). Under her vision and leadership, the company has become renowned for itsdynamic productions, distinctive movement style and technical virtuosity. Her work,intelligently crafted storytelling, is recognized as being profoundly moving andeffortlessly intimate.Ms. Mustaphi is a recipient of three McKnight Fellowships (1998, 1992, 1988) forchoreography, and recently received the forth McKnight Fellowship for Choreography(2023). She received a Leadership award from the Council of Asian PacificMinnesotans, a Lifetime Achievement award from the India Association of Minnesotaand an Education award from the Ordway Center for the Performing Arts in thecategory of Excellence in Vision.With a career and a commitment to Kathak dance spanning 35+ years, over 500performances, and 50+ original choreographic works, she still revels in the process ofdirecting bodies in space, creating movement on her own body and exploring what“moves” an audience to become engaged emotionally, intellectually and musically. Herworks have been supported by the National Endowment for the Arts, Minnesota StateArts Board, The McKnight Foundation, Metropolitan Regional Arts Council and manyothers. Ms. Mustaphi has been commissioned by the Ordway Center for the PerformingArts and toured her productions throughout the US, Canada and India.