Jonathan Hollander is the president, artistic director, and founder of the US-based Battery Dance Company, at The Oberoi which hosted him and his troupe ahead of their performance in Bengaluru.

Jonathan has choreographed over 75 works, performed by the company in theaters and festivals across continents. In 1982, he created the Downtown Dance Festival (now renamed Battery Dance Festival) which is known to have become New York City’s longest-running dance festival.

The company has been conscientious about its work in dance as a means of ‘social cohesion’, most prominently in conflict zones around the world, including Thailand, Iraq, Israel-Palestine and North and South Korea. They are also known for their workshops and programmes that reach out to schools and young talent about the importance of dance. “If we step back and look at something that’s important to Battery Dance, it’s looking at what the company can be in the world. It’s not going to be all about ourselves and self-expression. It has to be about resonance, meaning and change.

“When we undertake a programme like this, it inspires us, makes us love our art form even more because we see that it can do something for people. It can bring joy and reveal capacity to other people that they didn’t know they had.” This stems from their deep concern for the world and the need to understand what they, as dancers can do.

Read the source article about how dance can create social impact by Harshini Vakkalanka at The Hindu.