Celebrate Asian-American Pacific Islander Heritage Month with an afternoon of music, poetry and dance.

Hoboken Public Library and In Full Color present Arise, an Asian Heritage Month celebration featuring choreographer and dancer Amita Batra, who is forging an exciting new body language that merges ballet/contemporary and Kathak, the Indian classical art of storytelling. Watch Amita and her talented troupe fuse Eastern and Western dance traditions in a dazzling display, free and open to all ages. A Q&A will follow.

Arise will be on Saturday, May 7 from 3 p.m. to 4 p.m. at the Gazebo in the center of Church Square Park, located on Willow Avenue between 4th and 5th streets in Hoboken. In the event of inclement weather, the program will be moved inside to the main branch of the Hoboken Library, 500 Park Ave. 

ABOUT AMITA BATRA

Amita Batra is a story-driven artist who aims to be a testament to the fact that art is as boundless as the human spirit that embodies it. Whether it be performing, choreographing, creating movement for stage, camera, sharing stories of our darknesses, embodying tales of laughter, Amita aspires to experience it all. Formally trained in Kathak, the Indian classical art of storytelling under her Guru Shiva Mathur in Houston as well as ballet/contemporary under various teachers including the English National ballet’s Kerry Nicholls, Amita is currently working on her own body language which gains inspiration from the ideologies and techniques of both styles, while creating story-driven work in both independent and commercial spaces. Credits include NBC-Universal’s outfest, New York Black Arts Festival’s Aladdin, as well as various independent productions. Most recently, she was awarded the new choreographer grant by the Eryc Taylor Dance company to create a new work performed at the Martha Graham Theater in March.

ABOUT IN FULL COLOR

In Full Color is an award-winning organization that empowers women of color and other BIPOC of marginalized genders through education and the arts. We lead a storytelling revolution called Authentic Representation in theater, visual art, comedy, music, dance and other media. We empower BIPOC to be their best selves. We also educate, entertain and engage audiences of all colors and genders about diversity, equity, inclusion and justice.

We were previously known as Thinking In Full Color. IFC is a sponsored project of Fractured Atlas, a non-profit arts service organization. For more information, visit http://www.InFullColor.org