About

Ariaki Dandawate is a Kathak artist, teacher and performer based in the Greater Boston and New York Metropolitan Areas. As an emerging solo performer and choreographer, Ariaki's work aims to contextualize her practice for uninitiated audiences, thereby emphasizing the cultural relevance of traditional Kathak practices on the contemporary stage. Her process is informed by her experiences as a 1st generation-American who shares a deep connection to her Indian heritage, and who has spent decades honing her craft under a cultural backdrop foreign to Kathak. 

 

Ariaki has trained intensely in the repertoire, performance, technique, and theory of Kathak under the inimitable Guru Archana Joglekar, earning a Master's degree in the art form under her guidance.​ Ariaki’s diverse artistic career spanning performance, education and choreography has allowed her to further her outreach as an artist. She has performed immersive solo performances within North America and abroad at the Rubin Museum (NYC), Ursuline Arts Center (Kentucky), Aki Studio (Toronto), Multicultural Arts Center (Boston), David and Dorothea Garfield Theater (San Diego), to name a few. ​In addition, Ariaki was commissioned to create and present collaborative work on several occasions at the Brooklyn Academy of Music (NY), Multicultural Arts Center (Boston), and Arts At the Armory (Boston). 

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In addition to her work as a performer, Ariaki has served as a cultural consultant on projects like the Asian American Ballet Project (Boston)’s reimagination of “La Bayadere”. She was invited as a guest lecturer on “Storytelling in Kathak” for the Ohio State University’s Theater Department. In 2023, Ariaki collaborated with the Artist Athlete Collective (Boston) to curate an injury prevention workshop tailored to Indian Classical Dance practitioners in the Boston Area. 

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Besides her study of Kathak, Ariaki has begun to explore the breadth of movement expression in Indian Classical art forms. For the past 4 years, she has been training in Odissi technique and repertorie under the world-renowned Guru Bijayini Satpathy. She has also taken training in the ancient Indian martial arts form "Kalaripayattu" under Belraj Soni. 

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With a unique blend of tradition and innovation, Ariaki's performances and workshops aim to bring the rich cultural heritage of Kathak to a wider audience. Through creative choreography and immersive storytelling, Ariaki's work transcends boundaries and captivates audiences of all ages. Learn more about her work here.