One evening last May, six young dance students – our 92NY Recanati-Kaplan dance scholars – sat in the front row of Kaufmann Concert Hall as their teacher and mentor Sameena Mitta and her company MeenMoves performed on stage as part of our Future Dance Festival. Mitta was one of 21 artists from around the world selected by an independent jury to showcase their work on the stage where some of the greatest luminaries in dance first presented their own.
The “RK” dance scholars weren’t only Mitta’s students, but had recently become young colleagues. Mitta is artistic director of MeenMoves, which advocates for diversity in dance and for amplifying the voices of underrepresented creatives of color, and as part of her work, she creates dance film projects. During the pandemic, Mitta conceived a project exclusively for 92NY built on the theme of democracy, and with the goal of providing enrichment to Harkness School of Dance students and highlighting young voices. In coordination with Harkness Dance Center Director Taryn Kaschock Russell and School of Dance Director Alison Manning, Mitta invited the RK students she mentors – then middle school students – to take part, pairing each of them with a member of her company. Her intergenerational dance film Bilateral Quadrennium is the result, providing a platform for the students’ voices – in both spoken remarks and movement – in response to questions like “What is democracy?” and giving them the experience of dancing alongside professional dancers. Russell calls it “the essence of democracy in action,” adding, “Who says the entry point for the next generation can’t be through movement and dance?”
Giving a 14-year-old the chance to perform alongside a professional is only part of what makes Mitta remarkable. Manning says, “Sameena is a very special individual. She’s an incredible teacher who cares deeply about her students – their progress in dance and their happiness in the world.” Manning says Mitta worked tirelessly with the RK students to prepare them for their performing arts high school auditions, choreographing works just for them, or coaching them in preparing their own works. “She gives so much to these young dancers, whose exceptional talent earned them their scholarships, but she brings the same passion, compassion, and dedication to all of her School of Dance students,” says Manning. “Sameena had been a hidden gem here. It’s time to shine a light on her as a creator and educator and a genuine leader in our dance community.”
Russell first met Mitta when she joined 92NY in 2019. “I got to know her work and witnessed her devotion to her students, and I just fell in love. Soon after, I saw her company in a showcase at Ailey Studios. The work she creates is intelligent and inclusive and socially significant, and I knew right then I wanted to support her development as an artist.”
Mitta’s involvement in dance at 92NY is full and deep. She has taught Limón-based technique to young students in the Harkness School of Dance for nearly 10 years. She has been a student herself in our Dance Education Laboratory, DEL. She mentors our RK dance scholars, and now also works with our education outreach program CALL. She was a Future Dance Festival finalist, and now she is a 2022/23 Harkness Dance Center Artist in Residence, with the gift of time and space to develop innovative new work. “Sameena is the embodiment of The 92nd Street Y at its best,” says Russell. “Her work as a creator who is actively moving her art form forward is coupled with a deep commitment to the young students she teaches and mentors. She is simultaneously creating a new generation of dance artists while expanding the language of dance – all of it right here.”
“This is my second home,” Mitta says, “a place that has inspired me and helped me grow in so many ways. As a young dance student from a diverse background with one Indian/Pakastani parent and one German parent, and being an immigrant, I did not have a role model I could identify with. And I was not encouraged to pursue dance.” she says. “Being in a position now to pursue my most ambitious projects yet as an artist in residence, and to guide young dancers as they develop into beautiful artists and kind humans is something I’m incredibly grateful for.”
“Our faculty members are thinking about the next generation, and how they’re going to impact the world,” says Russell. “Sameena is doing amazing things here. We’re incredibly grateful for her.”
Learn more about the many facets of the Harkness Dance Center. See 92NY’s Recanati-Kaplan dance scholars at work in Sameena Mitta’s Bilateral Quadrennium.