Arts Activities Support

721 paid and 785 total people attended performances producing gross ticket revenue of $15,552. This was a 27% increase in paid attendance over 2015, and a 56.6% increase in ticket revenue; Audience members offered 20 written comments on Facebook and 43 comments on written surveys (84% of self-selected respondents) attesting to their favorable experience and engagement. As proposed, Ananya Dance Theatre created and presented two performances of "Horidraa: Golden Healing" at The O'Shaughnessy at Saint Catherine University, St Paul, September 16-17, 2016. The full-length work focused on the role of women as healers and sustainers of communities. Artistic Director Ananya Chatterjea choreographed using contemporary Indian American dance. Her collaborating partners included guest artist Shá Cage; behavioral artist Marcus Young; composer/instrumentalist Greg Schutte; composer Andrea Reynolds aka Queen Drea; vocalists Mankwe Ndosi, Pooja Goswami Pavan, Michelle Kinney, and Tenzin Ngawang; costume designer Annie Cady; scenic designer Alison Hiltner; lighting designer Kevin A. Jones; and media designer Darren Johnson. Dancers included Leila Awadallah, Ananya Chatterjea, Renée Copeland, Kealoha Ferreira, Jay Galtney, Prakshi Malik, Lela Pierce, Hui Niu Wilcox, Alessandra Lebea Williams, Magnolia Yang Sao Yia, and apprentices Holo Lue Choy, Sophia Hill, and Julia Gay. Emma Marlar served as production manager, assisted by Nakita Vang as stage manager and rehearsal assistant. Story-sharing conversations on the nature of healing included the insights of Dr. Madhuri Shors, Dr. Roli Dwivedi, Dr. Bharati Acharya, Nasreen Mohamed, Stephanie Watts, Nimo Farh, Nekessa Opoti, and Lula Saleh. An Audience Empowerment Workshop, conducted for the general public, August 22, 2016, was attended by 40 people at the Frye Theater at The O'Shaughnessy, while 65 students and members of youth communities of color attended an invited preview performance, September 15, 2016. Our philosophy of #occupydance informed our creation of an interactive audience experience that brought people into the world of "Horidraa." The experience included performers moving among audience members in the lobby pre-performance, and the opportunity to touch and be touched by turmeric paste, with its external medicinal value and temporary skin coloring post-performance. We anticipated serving a range of individuals – artists, communities of color, women and girls, social justice activists – who are part of our audiences, ensemble, and decision-makers. Our vision of audiences for this project comprised a cross-section of local communities that included members of local immigrant and youth communities. We anticipated that at least 25% of the audience would be members of Asian communities, Black/African American communities, and White/not Hispanic, and that youth 19-24 and adults 25-64 would comprise at least a quarter of the audience. We reached, if not exceeded, the intended breadth of community participation, but not the anticipated depth of particular demographics. We reached artists, communities of color, women and girls, and social justice activists. Of 785 total audience members at two O'Shaughnessy performances, 51 (6.5%) returned written surveys. Based on these self-selected responses, 56.9% were first time attendees of Ananya Dance Theatre; 74.5% were women; 37.3% were LGBTQ and 60.8% straight; and 7.8% had a disability. Minneapolis residents comprised 43.1% of the audience, with St Paul residents represented by 27.4%. Attendees hailed also from at least six other states and Laos, Liberia, and India. Age breakdown: (a) 16-20 = 5.9%; (b) 21-30 = 25.5%; (c) 31-49 = 23.5%; and (d) 50-79 = 39.2%. Household income breakdown: (a) Less than $10,000 = 11.8%; (b) $10,000-43,999 = 33.3%; (c) $44,000-76,999 = 17.6%; (d) $77,000-99,000 = 15.7%; (e) $100,000+ = 13.7%. Self-identifications: (a) African American = 13.7%; (b) African Immigrant = 5.9%; (c) Asian American = 11.8%; (d) Caucasian = 43.2%; (e) European American = 11.8%; (f) Latin = 1%; (g) Native American = 5.9%. Staff of The O'Shaughnessy told us that, based on their visual observation, Ananya Dance Theatre's audience was among the most diverse of the many presentations on its stage. Our successful fundraising for this project provided the opportunity to allocate a significant expenditure of ~$7,200 to advertising. We were able to supplement online marketing by The O'Shaughnessy with Minnesota Public Radio and MinnPost.com, and to have a paid online presence on Twitter and Facebook, and print presence in the Star Tribune, North News, and Highland Villager. In the process, we added several hundred new followers to our Facebook page, bringing the total to more than 3,000, the second-highest online following of any dance organization in Minnesota (as of this report date).