This Is Not That Dawn

Concert Premiere

Friday, May 27, 2022

Center for Arts at the Armory, Somerville, MA

Punjab, 1947 | India is on the brink of Partition. Meera is a young and promising kathak dancer who falls in love with her Muslim neighbor Bilal. When he emigrates to Pakistan with his family, Meera is left to bear their child - Anitha - alone. Amid mounting violence between Muslims and Hindus, Meera gives baby Anitha over to her sister Manju who is fleeing to England.   

England, 1972 | A serious injury has truncated Anitha’s nascent ballet career. Struggling with her uncertain future and her conflicted identity, she returns to India for the first time since her birth in search of closure about the unknown fate of her mother, Meera. Through this transformative journey, Anitha discovers that she is connected to the mother she never knew by their shared passion for dance.

Duration: 90 minutes