Ishti: seeking to be is a dance performance based on the art of accepting and celebrating failure through resilience. The dance piece explores the journey of pushing through failure and using it as a birthplace of creativity, change and innovation to seek towards. It was originally conceptualized by Preeti Veerlapati and debuted as a short piece “Failure” by three friends at the Going Dutch Festival in June 2015. One year later, it has evolved to be a full length movement based performance production outreaching the Chicagoland community. 

We welcome you to an interactive performance rooted in Indian dance. We encourage you to wear comfortable clothing for floor seating. Benches are available for people with functional limitations. 

Chreographers: Kinnari Vora, Preeti Veerlapati

Dancers: Khristi Blocton, Kinnari Vora, Preeti Veerlapati, Tuli Bera

Preeti Veerlapati is trained in Kuchipudi under Smt. Sujata Vinjamuri and Kishore Mosalikanti in St. Louis. She was a company member of the IU African American Dance Company. From 2012-2016, she has been the lead dancer and choreographer at Kalapriya Center for Indian Performing Arts.Preeti is the proud recipient of individual artist grant 2015 by DCASE for this project. Her past works include collaborations with the Deeply Rooted for Satyagraha, performances at The Field Museum, Chicago Summer Dance, Goodman Theater’s Jungle Book Outreach, Harris Theater, Redmoon Winter Pageant and the Chicago Cultural Center. 

Kinnari Vora is a versatile dancer and choreographer in Bharatanatyam (South Indian Classical), Folk and South Asian Contemporary dance styles. She was trained under Guru Sarmishtha Sarkar in India and pursues dance in Chicago under the mentorship of Guru Pranita Jain. She has performed at several prestigious dance festivals in India, Poland, Greece, Israel, Italy. She has performed extensively in New York and Chicagoland area including the Harris Theater, The Art Institute, Chicago Cultural Center, Bloomington Performing Arts Center, Performing Arts, Redmoon Theater.

This project is partially supported by the Individual Artist Program Grant from the City of Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Event, as well as Illinois Arts Council Agency, a state agency through federal funds provided by the National Endowments for the Arts.

 

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