Outreach in Kolkata
Courtyard Dancers began sponsoring classes at Subhasgram, a small community in the southern shadow of Kolkata that is neither village nor town, in 2013. The Kathak classes are taught by Urmila Das, an advanced Kathak dancer, and Chandan Patra, a veteran tabla player. The classes are free and CD members conduct site visits. Palak Singhee, a member of CD was especially helpful in the process of making the logistics work. Pallabi Chakravorty is grateful to Ranjit babu, local inhabitant of Subhasgram for his ongoing help and support for this project. Ranjit babu helped to procure the room where classes are held. He also functions as a supervisor. CD envisions this as a rudimentary step towards expanding the Kathak community to include different members and to contribute to the empowerment of the girl-child in India. They believe that the arts can serve the underprivileged to better access formal education. They would like to offer other kinds of classes, such as spoken English. Volunteers are welcome.