Chandsi Kataria

I was born and raised in New Delhi, India where I attended Vasant Valley School before pursuing a Performance Studies major at Tisch School of the Arts, New York University. With over 12 years of experience as a student of the Indian classical dance named Bharatnatyam, I have performed extensively in India and around the world. Additionally, I am pursuing a producing minor at NYU. I intend on continuing to deepen my understanding of performing arts on and off stage in the future.

Title of Capstone Project

An Exploration of Both Sides of an Auditorium

Description of Capstone Project

My project is an exploration of the role that audiences play in the whole experience of a performance.I am writing an artist statement on a dance piece that I performed about 7 years ago for the first time and have done so multiple times after. I performed that same exact piece in different countries infront of different kinds of audiences and realised that every time the reaction was very different from the audiences which ignited me to think of the role that an audiences play. I revamped and filmed the same piece again with an emphasis on hand gestures and their potential cultural significance inspired by "Agency and Embodiment: Performing Gestures/Producing Culture" by Carrie Noland, published by Harvard University Press in 2009. I will attempt to explore audience perceptions through the reactions I get to my performance from my friends and peers.