RELEASE: Pittsburgh Dancer and Choreographer Mita Ghosal Performs Lost on a Loom in May
Examines Lost South Asian Histories Through the Lens of Indian Textiles and Fabrics in May
East Liberty, Pittsburgh, PA—Kelly Strayhorn Theater is excited to conclude the Winter/Spring 2024 season with Pittsburgh-based dancer and choreographer Mita Ghosal’s world premiere of Lost on a Loom on Friday & Saturday, May 17 – 18, 7:30pm – 9:00pm. Audience members can hear Ghosal share about her work in person at the Welcome Dinner & Artist Talk on Monday, May 13, 6:00pm – 8:00pm. Plus, don’t miss the opportunity for the moving, drawing, and writing workshop, Material of a Story with Mita Ghosal, co-presented with PearlArts on Wednesday, March 15, 9:00am – 10:15am. All events take place at KST’s Alloy Studios.
Lost on a Loom examines lost South Asian histories through the lens of Indian textiles, fabrics, and dance. Known for their vibrant colors, alluring textures, and indigenous motifs symbolizing various aspects of culture, trade, religion, and nature, these materials hold stories that have molded South Asia’s history as well as its ties to a Colonial past.
The piece explores color, shape, movement, and historical contexts of various fabrics including Kantha Embroidery brought to the United States by Bengali Peddlers in the late 1800’s, Khadi, a homespun fabric centered to India’s Independence Movement, Jute Fabrics spiraling out from peasant communities in the Bengal Delta into the world market, along with other culturally significant fabrics.
Weaving together a first-generation Bengali protagonist with the stories of fabric from Bengal, Lost on a Loom uses dance, storytelling, video imagery, familial narratives, and recollections of the past, to draw parallels to the movement of material, the movement(s) of people and economic and social disparities that continue to remain etched into the fabric of modern history.
Mita Ghosal’s choreography adapts languages from contemporary dance, yoga, theater, and the poetic and revolutionary voices of her Bengali ancestors to guide her artistic craft. According to Ghosal, Lost on a Loom “is a heartfelt and very personal journey in which I explore my own memories and family history, while delicately stitching them back together into larger social and political systems that have colonized, entangled and shaped them”.
We encourage our audience to interact with the artist face-to-face during events of the same week. At Monday’s Welcome Dinner & Artist Talk, following a community dinner, Ghosal will discuss her process of creating this new work and her practice as an artist in Pittsburgh.
At Wednesday’s moving, drawing, and writing workshop, Material of a Story, participants will be led through a warm-up integrating improvisation, contemporary dance, and yoga. An all-level section of repertory from Lost on a Loom will be taught for participants to engage in the artists’ creative process.
Kelly Strayhorn Theater is committed to promoting arts, culture, and community in Pittsburgh and cultivating BIPOC artists. We can’t wait to conclude our Winter/Spring 2024 season with Mita Ghosal and her performance Lost on a Loom, celebrating diverse cultures at KST’s Alloy Studios.
Welcome Dinner & Artist Talk with Mita Ghosal
Monday, May 13, 2024 | 6:00pm – 8:00pm
KST’s Alloy Studios | 5530 Penn Ave.
Tickets for Welcome Dinner & Artist Talk with Mita Ghosal are available on a sliding scale, from $0 – $25 per attendee, and can be purchased at kelly-strayhorn.org or at the door.
Material of a Story with Mita Ghosal
Wednesday, May 15, 2024 | 9:00am – 10:15am
KST Alloy Studios | 5530 Penn Ave.
Co-Presented with PearlArts
Tickets for Material of a Story are Pay What Moves You, $10 – $25 per attendee, and can be reserved at kelly-strayhorn.org or at the door.
Mita Ghosal: Lost on a Loom
Friday & Saturday, May 17 – 18 | 7:30pm – 9:00pm
KST’s Alloy Studios | 5530 Penn Ave.
Tickets for Mita Ghosal: Lost on a Loom are available on a sliding scale, from $15 to $35 per attendee, and can be purchased at kelly-strayhorn.org or at the door.
CREDITS
Choreographer, Writer, Director, Performer: Mita Ghosal
Dancers: Emily Phillips, Ryann Coleman, Stephanie Kotsch
Voice-over Actor: Brigid Ryan
Sound Designer: Pan-Pan Gou
Set/Costume/Prop Construction: Jonathan Shapiro
Seamstress: Laurie Ireland
Lighting Designer: Rianne Lindsey
Video Artist: Gia Abucejo
ABOUT THE ARTIST
Mita Ghosal (She/Her), Choreographer, Writer, Director, Performer – Inspired by the ways in which movement and stories intersect in revealing and unexpected ways, Mita Ghosal’s choreography utilizes tools from Contemporary Dance, Yoga, Theatre and familial and ancestral histories to guide her in artistic craft. Her work has been presented in New York, Los Angeles and her hometown of Pittsburgh through numerous professional venues. Her work has been supported through the Opportunity Fund, the Greater Pittsburgh Arts Council and the National Endowment of the Arts. Mita studied Theatre at Penn State University, holds an MFA in Choreography from UCLA, and is a Certified Movement Analyst through the Laban/Bartenieff Institute.
ABOUT KELLY STRAYHORN THEATER
Named after 20th century entertainment legends Gene Kelly and Billy Strayhorn, both natives of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Kelly Strayhorn Theater (KST) is a home for creative experimentation, community dialogue, and collective action rooted in the liberation of Black and queer people. We welcome our home to all who uplift Black, Indigenous, people of color, and queer voices.
KST is an institutional arts anchor in Pittsburgh’s East End that has served the community for more than two decades. Since launching KST Presents programming in ’08, KST has been Black-led, fostering radical imagination for Black and queer arts, culture, and community in Pittsburgh by cultivating BIPOC and/or queer artists, entrepreneurs, and arts administrators, developing their careers, and shifting narratives around Black possibility.