Leadership as Generosity of Spirit
Rachna Nivas
The celebration of Presidents Day was initially to recognize the leadership of our first president, George Washington. With Lincoln’s birthday also in February, the holiday was expanded to include Lincoln and all U.S. presidents.
Around the nation, there will be patriotic parades, historical reenactments, and readings of Washington’s Farewell Address. This is not just a day to reflect on past Presidents, but to also contemplate and reaffirm the democratic ideals and values this nation was founded on and how we, as a nation, will strive to carry them forward. In this moment, as the good fight continues to be fought, those ideals and values will be the north stars that illuminate the path to the beloved community.
As this current administration continues to remove historical exhibits, plaques, signage, webpages and more about people of color, it’s imperative to hold true to Dr. King’s beautiful vision. Moreover, that vision is strengthened when we recognize and celebrate the instances where those ideals and values take shape through lived expression.
Rina Mehta, Michelle Dorrance, Dormeshia Sumbry Edwards, Rachna Nivas
Conversing Across Form & Culture
Such was the case when I read the NY Times article about the culminating program of “What Flows Between Us” —a day-long festival of Indian music, dance, poetry, and storytelling at the 92NY on February 21.
The closing program is the New York premiere of SPEAK, described as a groundbreaking rhythmic dialogue between kathak (Indian percussive dance) and tap. Created and performed by Rachna Nivas, Rukhmani Mehta, Michelle Dorrance, and Dormeshia Sumbry Edwards, with an all-women ensemble of Indian classical and jazz musicians, SPEAK celebrates lineage, improvisation, rhythm and the capacity of women artists to hold a conversation across form and culture.
Rachna Nivas beautifully stated that:
Collaboration is not a shortcut or a gimmick; at its highest level, it is an act of integrity — the culmination of years of disciplined study. Only from that depth can artists recognize shared currents without erasing difference, and create work that is rooted, honest, and transformative. When we collaborate from this place of mastery and reverence, we begin to see the nuances that flow between us across borders, traditions, and histories, expanding our lens of humanity through art.
The four women use the universal power of dance and music to collaborate beyond identities and express a “generosity of spirit.” In the article, they shared that they approached the experience with a beginner’s mind to find connections through the nuance and details of each other’s art and tradition. “There’s a deep sense of exchange, listening, trust, and shared responsibility,” Dormeisha said.
Deeply inspiring is how each woman, a master of her own craft, opened herself up to the challenge of something different and new—incorporating unfamiliar timing, rhythm, and footwork to create something that Nivas called “transformative.”
Mehta and Nivas assert that “SPEAK is a testament to the beauty and possibility born of diversity and a reflection of the America we know and love: multi-faceted, plural and vibrant.” These are American values in action and worthy of celebration.
