Battery Dance, an arts organization located in what was the “Frozen Zone” after 9/11, remembers the victims of the attacks on the World Trade Towers 22 years later, curating a public program of Indian classical dance and music. At 8:26 a.m. on Monday, September 11th, the voices of Hindustani classical musicians Ritesh and Rajnish Mishra, will echo from the traffic island at Franklin Street and West Broadway in Tribeca, along with the ankle bells of Kathak dancer Parul Shah and rhythms of tabla player Naren Budhakar.
The event, staged impromptu and with no intention of collecting donations and with no seating, follows Battery Dance’s earlier memorial events staged in the same spot in September 2001 and 2021, a location chosen because the towers had been in the view corridor of the traffic island which now looks out on empty sky. It also follows a public performance staged at the World Trade Center that Hollander organized in 1999, the first time Ritesh and Rajnish had performed in North America with their father and uncle, Rajan and Sajan Mishra.
Delhi-based brothers, Ritesh and Rajnish Mishra, come from a long-line of Hindustani classical musicians, with their father and uncle being two of the most beloved and revered artists of their generation. They have built a reputation for themselves over the past two decades with five previous U.S. tours, numerous Indian national awards and 10 recordings to their credit.
Parul Shah is a leading dancer in the North Indian classical style of Kathak, a form that combines elements of both Mughal and Hindu cultures. Her former dance studio was located a few blocks from the World Trade Center. She has been a featured performer at previous Battery Dance Festival India Day performances.
Naren Budhakar is an esteemed percussionist who has performed at the Metropolitan and Brooklyn Museums, Asia Society, and on international tours. He performed with Battery Dance in the Fall of 2001 at the inaugural “Wall Street Rising” event following 9/11.
Battery Dance gratefully acknowledges the support of Radhika and Kamal Bhatia.
EVENT: 9/11 Remembrance in Music and Dance
LOCATION: Traffic Island next to the uptown #1 Subway Franklin Station stop in Tribeca
TIME/DATE: 8:46 a.m. – 9:16 a.m., Monday, September 11, 2023
PERFORMERS: Rajnish & Ritesh Mishra, Parul Shah, Naren Budhakar
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