Split Bill Artists Fees

With a a small but fierce remote team, WADE's annual budget of under $100,000 has proven deeply insufficient to cover all our expenses for the year an the artistic fees of our collaborators for our upcoming performance. We were hoping for a couple of grants to come through, but since they did not pan out, the organization has hit some very difficult fundraising challenges.

This past summer WADE has produced a number of extraordinary events in Italy with the continued intention of supporting survivors of violence by using dance and the arts as an access point. We have forged an important collaboration with the anti violence center Rompi il Silenzio in Rimini and we now are collaborating on a one-of-a-kind culturally responsive and trauma informed program intermingling with the dance track supporting their domestic violence survivors to be launched in July 2025.

We are struggling to balance our budget for the Split Bill performance on Monday, November 25th to mark the importance of the International Day of Elimination of Violence Against Women and the beginning of the 16 Days of Activism 2024. The event brings together two talented choreographers from two geographical regions at different stages of their career who use very distinct approaches to dance. The performance highlights the wisdom and expressiveness of the moving body that unites different people in a collective action against violence.

All funds raised through this campaign will be used to directly pay the artists and our collaborators (see below for their information and plans for the performance).

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WADE Dance INC. is a non-profit, 501(c)(3) organization and all contributions are tax-deductible to the extent provided by law. WADE Dance INC. is considered a public charity under the Internal Revenue Code Section 501(c)(3). If you'd like to direct your gift toward a specific program, please consider including a note or designation with your gift.

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CHOREOGRAPHERS AND WORK DESCRIPTIONS:

• Raka Maitra | Chowk Productions | Singapore
  • Raka Maitra (she/her) is a dancer and choreographer who defies the conventional dichotomy of 'classical' and 'contemporary'. She is a dancer simpliciter; exploring through her work the notion of 'Asian Culture' through her own language of contemporary dance. The basis of her movement is both the martial arts and classical Indian dance. Trained in both classical Odissi and Chhaua, Raka was an associate artist with The Substation, from 2007-2011 and co-artistic director from 2020-2021. Maitra founded Chowk Productions in 2014 after being awarded the Seed Grant by the National Arts Council.
    • Work description: "Variation on a Theme" The term ‘variation’ in Western music refers to a theme that is introduced and elaborated upon with alterations evolving from the first statement. In this work, the classical Odissi vocabulary is approached in a similar fashion to how a Western classical music composer would when elaborating on a main theme, drawing inspiration from the rich vocabulary of classical Odissi dance to empower the individual dancer to depart from the traditional norms and structures. The result is a celebration of the joys of pure dance and its dynamic interplay between music and movement where elements interact and evolve in tangent to one another, creating a captivating visual and auditory experience. This work poses an important question about our understanding and applications of traditional dance in a modern context: namely, how does a dancer discover agency within a traditional form by immersing themselves to become empowered as an individual? The emphasis on variations mirrors the historical roots and transformation of Odissi, challenging established norms of the female dancer’s body and prompting critical reflections on its development. Variations of a Theme becomes a celebration of the body, allowing each dancer to assert agency and ownership over the Odissi dance form; pushing boundaries within a feminist context of empowerment towards a renewed understanding of this unique art form.

• Dahyun Kim | Republic of Korea
  • Dahyun Kim (she/they), pronounced [Da-hyeon Khim] is a dancer, choreographer, and educator from Seoul, Republic of Korea. She has recently received her M.F.A. in Dance at Tisch School of the Arts and M.A. in Dance Education at Steinhardt School of Culture, Education, and Human Development. Dahyun is deeply passionate about creating a culturally responsive and research based practice. In reflection of such nature, her artistry is attuned to her gaze of the current world. She has been cultivating a series of pieces dedicated to sharing with the world the nuanced beauties that lie in Korean culture and art forms as can be seen in “흥|Joy”(2021), “수심가|Depth of Water”(2023), and “일엽편주|Paper Boat”(2023).
    • Work description: 허난설헌 is a Korean female poet, painter, musician, and artist known for her extraordinary talent that was ahead of her time. However, she is more well known for the unfortunate fate she had- her in-laws infamously bullied her through her lifetime due to her talent exceeding that of her husband’s. Her works later in life reflected this environment she was placed in, a layer of sorrow being embedded in her paintings and poems. This piece is a reimagination of how her creative process would have been, had she physically and mentally been freed from such an environment.