SAPAN Creates South Asian Community Through Performance Art

The performances put on by South Asian Performing Arts Network and Institute actively work against tropes while creating work anyone can identify with. 

At the South Asian Performing Arts Network and Institute’s “How to Dance at an Indian Wedding” class, Mayhah Roma Suri loves teaching people to dance to “Om Shanti Om.”

The infectious song comes from a 2007 Bollywood film of the same name. Thanks to the dance’s interesting but accessible hook step — catchy choreography repeated at the chorus — Suri says even beginners can master it and feel cool while doing so.

“It’s unexpected that I get to share that moment with grandmothers from the suburbs and recent immigrants from India — it’s like the whole gamut of people have attended,” Suri, the theater and production director of SAPAN, says. “We really are, I feel, fulfilling the mission of sharing the joy and creativity of South Asian performance art.”

SAPAN began in 2007 after its founders realized no single institution represented and supported an expansive group of South Asian performing artists in D.C. In addition to classes, SAPAN puts on theatre, dance and music shows throughout the year.

The group started offering “How to Dance at an Indian Wedding” last summer, Suri says, after one member’s friends joked they wouldn’t know any of the moves at his wedding. Performers will hold the next class on May 20 with Barracks Row Main Street, inviting all audiences to learn viral Bollywood hits, common steps informed by bhangra, circle dancing inspired by garba and moves to perform with a drink in hand.

Though SAPAN is participating in a number of AAPI Heritage Month events, Suri says she hopes people continue turning out beyond the month of May: “The most important thing is to be established and recognized for 365 days.”

In her creative work, Suri always aims to showcase the “specificity of a South Asian cultural product,” though she’s found many experiences depicted by SAPAN end up resonating with broad audiences.

“Some of the theatre pieces we do [are] very rooted in the South Asian or South Asian American experience, but the feeling of the challenges of intergenerational communication or feeling lonely or feeling misunderstood are universal,” she says.

For instance, in 2019, Suri realized many of SAPAN’s pieces tended to make parents the antagonist. She wanted to write against that trope, and came up with “Chole Connection,” named for a dish of curried chickpeas.

In the piece, a son calls his mother for help cooking, while she insists that she just doesn’t follow recipes. Suri wanted to convey frustrations on both sides and evoke empathy for each character.

Seeing it performed “was one of the proudest moments of my life,” Suri says. “It’s very collaborative, and I loved seeing the growth of the actors and seeing the growth of the piece.”

Hearing audiences laugh and hush by turns felt validating, like she’d succeeded in her artistic mission.

Suri never used to feel confident in her creativity, she says. Meeting others at SAPAN who fit in performance art alongside full-time jobs or schoolwork helped teach her to make bolder artistic choices.

“I haven’t had a lot of chances and other types of spaces to dream big and be bold and try new things,” Suri says. But SAPAN members are “there to help bring it to life alongside with you, and you’re there to help them bring their vision and their creativity to life as well.”

SAPAN will perform at 701 Pennsylvania Ave. at 2 p.m. on May 20. You can find more information about the performance here. Follow the group online at sapanarts.org or on Instagram @sapanarts.

Barracks Row Main Street: barracksrow.org // @barracksrow

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Aviva Bechky