Divya Maiya - Outstanding
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Divya Maiya, a dancer, a convener, a sparkling shaker-upper. Photo by Tracy Nordstrom
Divya Maiya is not afraid to stand out. In fact, she radiates when noticed, when her costume or colors shine, when her movement causes a stir.
Intentionally, Divya uses dance to draw others to her, to elicit joy, to celebrate place, to gather in community around something meaningful and connective. “Dance and art have always been part of my life,” she says with brio. “Everywhere I go, I bring that energy with me.”
Divya is not afraid of winter. Or standing out. Photo by Divya Maiya
Recently, on a cold, February, Minnesota day, Divya hosted a flash mob of Bollywood dancers on the frozen north arm of Lake of the Isles. Divya and her friends gathered on the field of white and danced to shake things up a bit and draw attention to the beauty and uniqueness of this place. “It was a very beautiful day,” Divya recalls, “and many people showed up.” With the collaboration of colorfully clad dancers in place, the music started and the storytelling began. People walking the lake stopped and stared; they wondered what the heck? A photographer from the city’s newspaper captured Divya’s face, up close and in full grin, that it placed on the front page the next day as if to say, Who says we can’t be grateful in the midst of winter? Who says we can’t unexpectedly dance and sing and smile even when it’s cold?
The spectacle of that winter day makes Divya smile still. A transplant to Minnesota from the decidedly not-cold Bangalore, India, Divya started dancing and teaching choreography in the Twin Cities as a way to connect with her far-away home and to traditions that keep her grounded and happy. “I just wanted to make friends,” she sighs, signaling that Minnesotans can be somewhat closed, and friend groups can be hard to crack as a newcomer. A curious problem-solver and self-starter by nature, Divya and two others decided to create and offer a weekly drop-in dance class at Tapestry Folkdance Center in Minneapolis. A few people came at first; then Divya says what they called “Bollywood Dance Scene” became one of the most popular offerings at Tapestry. “I’m all about bringing people together,” Divya exudes, “and dance is one way I know how to do that.”
Divya and the two friends, Jinal Vakil and Rashi Mangalick, took their dancing further still. They gathered other devotees of South Asian dance and started performing around town. They found a following they didn’t expect. “I didn’t realize how much of an impact it would have,” Divya says. “A South Asian population does exist here, but they operate in silos.” Divya and company put out the word that they would be dancing, every week, and everyone was invited. A small fee is charged to cover expenses. Each dance session is devoted to one routine, from introduction to performance. Each session is open to beginners and more experienced dancers, but strives to offer an experience that is fresh each time for all. Divya imagined creating a “festival atmosphere” with her dance offering, describing how “festivals [in India and most South Asian countries] are about community, but about the larger community,” she says. “[Imagine] going from one house to another house: you meet, you greet, you exchange presents and share food. It is immersive in community; dance and music are a big part of these events.”
SAATH performing at Minnesota Fringe Festival. Photo courtesy of SAATH, Ajith George
Bollywood Dance Scene evolved and is now known as South Asian Arts and Theater House, or SAATH, which combines dance and other art forms for performance. Divya says she wanted a company that would hold auditions, but not be competitive; it would strive for excellent work, but be welcoming to all. “You find fewer opportunities for adults to perform,” Divya notes. And this type of dance is energizing; Divya’s goal was to provide a “center place” where multiple dancers - all amateurs - might thrive. The word “saath,” Divya notes, means “togetherness” or “companionship” in Hindi and other Indian languages.
By 2014, just 2 years after Divya arrived in the Twin Cities, membership in SAATH had exceeded expectations. The company produced a 50+ member cast show called Hi! Hello! Namaste? at the Minnesota Fringe Festival, drawing huge audiences. In 2015, SAATH’s production of Spicy Masala Chai was the top selling show of the Festival. “We’ve done this on a shoestring,” says Divya. “From tech to songs, it just kind of flowed.”
SAATH practicing in the studio. Photo courtesy of SAATH
SAATH continues to teach dance and produce theatrical productions (preparing for Fringe again this year), and SAATH has even ventured into film. Chai Again, a rom-com, is now in production. It’s not Divya’s area of expertise - she admits only 1 person involved with the project has film experience - but she is undaunted. “In general,” Divya says, “I’m a very confident person, I don’t have inhibitions.” Her early dance and theater experiences inform her leadership style now, and she is comfortable pushing boundaries: “[When I was little], they kept putting me in the back row, or gave me boys’ parts because I had short hair. I’m not doing that. I’m not staying in the corner. I want to be front and center.”
Divya and fellow dancers. Photo courtesy of SAATH
The joy (and endorphins) that Bollywood dancing elicits is also “front and center” for her company of dancers, and a wider public. Today, among the many SAATH projects and her full-time day job for Best Buy, Divya still hosts weekly Bollywood dance sessions in South Minneapolis. “We’ve kept it a ‘drop-in class.’ You don’t have to know anything to participate,” Divya insists.
On a recent Thursday night, about 35 dancers assembled to follow 3 male choreographers for 90-minutes. The dancing was colorful, sweaty and high energy. The dance moves followed the arch of the storyline of the South Indian Telugu song, and the evening included warm-ups, practicing the steps, and a final, triumphant start-to-finish run-through performed for the fun (and accomplishment) of it; the recorded music was turned up one final notch.
A recent Thursday night drop-in class. Photo by Tracy Nordstrom
In the evening’s class, there were returning dancers and those who seemed to know each other well and who knew the music. There were newcomers, too. A first-time middle-aged woman was welcomed into the group and encouraged to practice the dance steps in the group’s middle, just behind the lead dancers. Another first-time attendee, a young woman called Natalee, said after class: “It was unpretentious. I felt OK knowing I didn’t know the steps already. It was hard fun. I’ll come again.” Natalee admitted she was new in town and hoped to make human connections through Divya’s class.
That admission should make Divya smile. In the class’s final moments, the impresario’s sparkle shone through her sweat and her assessment that SAATH and performance is “less about the audience, and more about the people in the community of dance and the classes.” The social center Divya says she sought to create for herself and for community through dance is holding. And that, she says, “feels like home.”
Divya and Bollywood Dance Scene co-founder, Jinal Vakil, on the swing (brought from India) in Divya’s home. Photo by Tracy Nordstrom
Resources:
South Asian Arts & Theater House: https://www.saathmn.org/
Tapestry Folkdance Center: https://www.tapestryfolkdance.org/
Hi! Hello! Nameste! At Minnesota Fringe Festival, 2014: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V_zxKUJowGg
Photos provided by Tracy Nordstrom and SAATH, unless otherwise noted