No Place to Stand
Choreography, Performance & Music :Anand Dhanakoti.
Premiered on April 19, 2025, in Wiesbaden, Germany, as part of the Ambedkar Jayanthi Celebration Festival.
Supported by Indira Performing Arts (Switzerland & Germany)
Inspired by Dr. B.R. Ambedkar’s Waiting for a Visa, No Place to Stand is a contemporary dance piece that explores untouchability, displacement, and the struggle for dignity. More than a reflection on history, it is a powerful call to confront ongoing injustice and honor the fight for equality.
BAALYA
Concept – Anand Dhanakoti and Amogh Swamy
Dancer and Co-choreographer – Eva Campanaro, Yeinner Chicas, Anand Dhanakoti
Music – Amogh Swamy
Choreography: Anand Dhanakoti
Mentoring: Regina Rossi
Co-production: K3 – Center for Choreography (K3 – Zentrum für Choreographie)-Limited edition
Funded by Kulturstiftung HH & Die Behörde für Kultur und Medien Hamburg
KR Market Video by Prajwal
Photos and Video credits: Öncü Gültekin
Premiered at Kampnagel – K4 on 23rd of June 2023 &
At Hundertpro Festival Vol. 6.1 – Ringlokschuppen Ruhr, Mülheim an der Ruhr on April 12, 2025.
Full video on YouTube – Watch here
Full video on Full video Vimeo – https://vimeo.com/844599609?share=copy
The password for the video is: BAALYA2023
Baalya is an immersive performance weaving circus arts, contemporary dance, voice, and movement, rooted in the real-life stories of Anand Dhanakoti, a former street child from Bengaluru. Alongside performers trained in circus arts, Baalya challenges viewers to see the Indian caste system from a new perspective, starting from the “feet up.” By depicting street sounds, rope walking, and rhythmic dances, it transports audiences into vibrant street life—until the energy shifts to reveal the struggles and resilience of street children rescued by NGOs.In collaboration with Eva Campanaro from Italy and Yeinner Chicas from Nicaragua, Baalya blends Tamil, Spanish, Italian, English, and Kannada, presenting a transcultural journey across Asia, Europe, and Latin America. Accompanied by musician Amogh Swamy, who infuses sounds from Anand’s childhood with Nicaraguan and Italian street influences, the performance pays homage to global street culture and fading folk traditions, like Devarattam from South India. This powerful artistic tapestry is a plea for empathy and awareness of the lost childhoods of street children worldwide.
YALI
Choreography: Anand Dhanakoti
Dancers: Virendra Nishad and Anand Dhanakoti
Music score: Anne Leira van Poppel Lubeigt
Video and editing: Mayur Joe
Assistant: Alegría van Poppel Lubeigt
Funded by Gefördert vom Fonds Darstellende Künste aus Mitteln der Beauftragten der Bundesregierung für Kultur und Medien im Rahmen der NEUSTART KULTUR.
Premiered at Ernst Deutsch Theater Hamburg Saturday 28. October 2023. At Fluctoplasma festival 2023.
Full video on YouTube – Watch here
“Yali’ is a multi disciplinary contemporary dance film production, searching for answer’s to the realities of a society; a society segregated by caste superiority, questioning the physical impact of casteism and untouchability on a dalit body. Inspiring poem Kannada.
ಹಸಿವಿನಿಂದ ಸತ್ತೋರು ಸೈಜುಗಲ್ಲು ಹೊತ್ತೋರು
ವದೆಸಿಕೊಂಡು ವರಗಿದೋರು ನನ್ನ ಜನಗಳು
ಕಾಲುಕಯ್ಯಿ ಹಿಡಿಯೋರು ಕೈ ಮಡಗಿಸಿಕೊಳ್ಳೋರು
ಭಕ್ತರಪ್ಪ ಭಕ್ತರೋ ನನ್ನ ಜನಗಳು
“ನನ್ನ ಜನಗಳು “Dr Siddalingaiah
who die from hunger – who haul large stones. who getting kicked drop on their backs;who beg for mercy – whose hands are slaves, who’re so devout such devotees They are my people.
“My People „ English translated by Madhav Ajjampur
KELLI
“KELLI” which in Kannada means “Hear me.”
Choreographed by Anand Dhanakoti
Performed by Akhilesh Dayanand, Sebastian Nicolas, and Bharath Yadav
Music by Murugesh Dhanakoti, Prajwal R, and Abhishek
Supported by Nava Dance Theatre The 2023 Unrehearsed Artist Residency Program,
Rehearsal support by Beru Art Space.
Full video on YouTube: https://youtu.be/xfubAyCU3WA?si=8y7S61XyRQZz6OS4
Premiered at Theater Flamingo and Saraya Theater in Goa, India — May 13–15, 2023
Showcased at Unrehearsed Artist Cohort, San Francisco, USA September 21–22, 2023
Showcased at Space of Art, Kochi, Kerala, India — April 4, 2025
‘Kelli’ is a multidisciplinary contemporary dance production, searching for answers to the realities of a society segregated by caste superiority. It questions the physical impact of casteism and untouchability on a Dalit body.
Combining elements of contemporary dance, South Indian folk traditions, music, Kalaripayattu, and physical movements inspired by kabaddi and kho kho, the performers embody hard-hitting questions through their movements
IMMER
Immer is a solo piece inspired by the concept of Sanskritization.
Choreography & Performance: Anand Dhanakoti
Music: “Poomathe” – Sithara’s Project Malabaricus (Kappa TV) & Live Music by Anand Dhanakoti*
Presented as part of the CDSH Education Program, It premiered at Hamburger Sprechwerk, Hamburg (2020), and was selected among the Top 100 performances at the Gdansk Solo Dance Contest, Poland.
Mentors: Stefano Fardelli, Raul Valdez
Rehearsal Support: Javier Baez Velez, CDSH
Special Thanks:Eurasia International Network, Inlaks Foundation, Gdansk Dance Fest
Photo: Pawel Wyszomirski
THULI
Choreography: Anand Dhanakoti
Dancers: Aurora Brocchi, Deborah Dalla Valle, Damini Gairola, Alegría van Poppel Lubeigt, Maria Pearl Weise
Music: Anne Leira van Poppel Lubeigt
Co-production: DE LooPERS–dance2gether and Kunsthalle Bremen
Premiere: February 19, 2020, at Theater Bremen and Kunsthalle Bremen
Thuli is a contemporary dance piece inspired by the courageous story of Nangeli, a woman who resisted the British-imposed breast tax in colonial India through a powerful act of self-sacrifice. This evocative work explores the emotional and physical landscapes of becoming a woman—navigating fear, strength, beauty, and resilience.
Through expressive choreography and an intimate musical score, Thuli pays tribute to femininity, resistance, and the timeless struggle for dignity and self-determination.
THULI- https://youtu.be/kPLvETImx_E
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