Dastak is a meditation on borders, loss, belonging, home, and liberation. Structured through four elemental journeys, Earth, Water, Fire, and Air, the work traces the knockings (dastak, in Farsi) of global injustices on our hearts, and echoes the subtitle created by writer Sharon Bridgforth – I Wish You Me – indicating the cross-generational love that has carried communities through difficult migrations.

Dastak invites viewers to imagine what freedom is possible as it expands the realms of intention and trans-dimensional connection through spells that invoke rest, forgiveness, love, and freedom.

Choreographed by Ananya Chatterjea and performed by the artists of Ananya Dance Theatre, Dastak features the work of a powerful team of collaborators, including writer and dramaturg Sharon Bridgforth, sound artist Spirit McIntyre (performing live), stage director Marcus Young, lighting designer Kevin A. Jones, costume designer Annie Cady, scenery designer Chelsea Warren, and film maker Darren Johnson.

Dastak is a National Performance Network (NPN) Creation & Development Fund Project co-commissioned by the Skirball Cultural Center, Los Angeles, CA, in partnership with the Bates Dance Festival, Lewiston, ME, UtahPresents, Salt Lake City, UT, and NPN. The Creation & Development Fund is supported by the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation, The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, and the National Endowment for the Arts (a federal agency). For more information: www.npnweb.org