Amani Saeed / Roshni Samlal / Barkha Dance Company - sounds by Anjali Rose

Amani Saeed is an international writer who treads the line between roots and routes. She writes poetry, blog posts, films, and whatever else is needed to get the point across. Amani is the curator and host of the interdisciplinary sell-out night the hen-nah party, designed by and for queer South Asians. Her poetry collection, Split, was published with Burning Eye Books. Amani is the co-writer for Queer Parivaar, which premiered at the BFI Flare 2022 and won Best in British at the Iris Prize 2022.

Roshni Samlal is a New York-based tabla player, DJ, producer, curator and poet of Trinidadian descent. As a classically trained tabla artist, Roshni performs traditional tabla solos, South Asian classical accompaniment, jazz and chamber composition. She also uses electronic music production and poetry as contexts to reframe the tabla solo within an experimental narrative lens. She is the lead curator and producer of the Ragini Festival which focuses on spotlighting the work of artists engaged in traditional folk and innovative arts within the further reaches of the South Asian diaspora, focusing on Indo-Caribbean heritage. Her DJ sets are rooted in her diasporic heritage as a Trinidadian immigrant during the 90’s, Global club, Bollywood, Chutney, Soca, Electronics, Dancehall and Dub. Her work has been supported and showcased at GlobalFest, Ragas Live Festival, Lincoln Center, Celebrate Brooklyn, True/False Film Festival, Brookfield Place, Rubin Museum, Accordions of the World Festival, Joe’s Pub(Working Group Member 2022-2023), New Music USA, Pioneer Works and Brooklyn Museum.

Barkha Dance Company (BDC) is a kathak dance organization that upholds the traditional lineage of kathak and mindfully creates contemporary works that uncover new movement possibilities and means of storytelling within the form. Based in New York led by Artistic Director, Barkha Patel’s work has had the opportunity to present at venues such as Dance Theatre Harlem, Jacob’s Pillow Inside/Out, Joyce Theatre and Little Island Dance Festival among others. She was the recipient of the 2023 Juried Bessie Award and is currently in residency with Movement Research and a Harlem Stage WaterWorks Fellow. Barkha teaches kathak to young and adult students in New York and across the U.S in person and via zoom. You can learn more about her dance and community work at www.barkhadance.com