The Twin Cities art scene this weekend is filled with cultural storytelling: Katha Dance Theatre spins ancient Indian folktales into rhythms of kathak dance; Teatro del Pueblo and Pangea World Theater present a series of plays exploring childhood, tragedy and language; FAWK celebrates its 10th year anniversary with a comedy-packed super show, and the Threads Dance Project tackles the portrayal of Black women in art history.

Kathak dance celebrates the wisdom of folk tales

Katha Dance Theatre will premiere “Panchatantra: The Dancing Tales of Wisdom” at The O’Shaughnessy, bringing ancient Indian folktales to life through kathak, a classical Indian dance form. 

“Initially, this theater was my survival, coming from India and not seeing my culture represented,” said Rita Mustaphi, the founder and artistic director of Katha Dance Theatre. “We need to find ways to get to know our neighbors and what better way than through the arts?” 

Mustaphi, who started the company in 1987 in her basement, has used kathak’s intricate footwork, high-speed spins, rhythmic patterns, and improvisation to bridge cultural divides and tell stories.

This weekend’s performance is based on three animal fables written over 2,000 years ago in Sanskrit to teach moral lessons. In “The Lion, the Jackal, the Leopard, and the Crow,” a lion learns that true leadership includes kindness, as he chooses to spare a camel’s life despite his initial intent to hunt it. In “The Elephant and the Mice,” elephants avoid trampling a community of mice, who later rescue the elephants from a hunter’s trap, demonstrating the value of mutual respect regardless of size of power. Finally, in “The Fish and the Frog,” overconfident fish ignore a frog’s warning about a nearby family, resulting in their capture — emphasizing the importance of caution and awareness.

“These are the stories I grew up with, my kids grew up with, and now, even my grandkids are reading them,” Mustaphi said. “These stories are meaningful because they teach us how to be kind, wise and brave.” 

The production will bring together 42 dancers from Katha Dance Theatre’s professional company, apprentices and 20 children, ranging in ages 8 to 12, from the theater’s dance school in St. Louis Park. Costume designer Maitreyee Pahari, from New Delhi, created more than 50 costumes and 30 masks, which will be worn by the dancers as they embody the fables’ animal characters.

The performance will also feature paintings by Sanjukta Mitra, an original score composed by Minneapolis-based producer J.D. Steele and Indian composer Jayanta Banerjee and an English voiceover narration to guide the audience through the fables.

Three plays explore childhood, tragedy and language

The Pangea World Theater and Teatro del Pueblo are collaborating to present “Homo Dramaticus” at The Southern Theater, a series of three short plays by Argentine playwright Alberto Adellach. 

Directed by Alberto Justiniano, founder and artistic director of Teatro del Pueblo, along with Pangea World Theater artistic directors Dipankar Mukherjee and Meena Natarajan, and directing fellow Sir Curtis Kirby III, the production explores humanity through stories of childhood innocence, the consequences of dehumanization and the influence of language in shaping our realities.

FAWK celebrates 10 years with Dulcé Sloan and Twin Cities comedians

The Funny Asian Women Kollective (FAWK) is celebrating its 10-year anniversary with “The Extra Quality Super Show” at the Fitzgerald Theater. The show will feature FAWK co-founders and comedians Naomi Ko, Saymoukda Duangphouxay Vongsay and May Lee-Yang, alongside stand-up comedian and actress Dulcé Sloan.

Twin Cities comedians May Esperanza Losloso, Tsuab Yang, Tiffany Bui, Patti Kameya, Jamie Kalakaru-Mava, Mai Neng Moua, and Brenda Tran will also perform stand-up and comedy sketches.

Dance redefines abolition and unpacks historical representations of Black women in art

The Threads Dance Project, a contemporary dance company based in the Twin Cities, will present “Impressions,” at the Luminary Arts Center, exploring the intersections of identity, history and societal judgment. 

The program features “Abolition in Evolution Part 2 – Shoes,” the second dance work in the three-part series “Abolition in Evolution triptych,” created by founder and artistic director Karen L. Charles to examine how perception shapes identity and often dictates one’s place in society. 

“During my early research, I learned how people were historically judged by the shoes they wore,” Charles said in a program release. “Even if a person had on nice clothes, the wealthy would often look at their shoes to determine whether they truly belonged to the upper class. This is because, while a new outfit might be affordable, new shoes often were not. The shoes told the true story.”

The second dance in the program, “Objet de Désir Inaccessible” (Unattainable Object of Desire), reimagines Charles’ 2019 performance at the Minneapolis Institute of Art. Inspired by historical representations of Black women in art, the dance draws from French neoclassical painter Marie-Guillemine Benoist’s “Portrait of Madeline” to explore how the relationship between artist and subject can influence contemporary ideas about identity and oppression.

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