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Our Annual Report–What An Amazing Year!

As Dakshina’s 6th year winds down (or goes into overdrive as we head to India and Bangladesh for our Tour), I wanted to take a moment to share our highlights with you. In the midst of one of the worst recessions, Dakshina has managed to have a stellar year of artistic achievements and notable grant awards. Your continued support of Dakshina has played a key role in helping us maintain the excellent programming you’ve come to expect from us. So, Thank You!

Dakshina’s 2009 Highlights

• National Endowmment for the Arts Award to reconstruct two of Anna Sokolow’s pivotal works Rooms and Dreams.
• A Touring Grant from the DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities for our trip to India and Bangladesh.
• A Smithsonian invitation to design and lead a workshop around Anish Kapoor’s S-Curve sculpture.
• Dakshina hosted three presidential award winning dancers: Madhavi Mudgal, Leela Samson, and Alarmel Valli in DC.

In 2009, Dakshina performed in 22 shows in the DC metro area, 8 of which were free events. and we will will have presented works in Vancouver VC, Chennai and Ahmadabad in India and Dhaka Bangladesh this year. Our performances reached close to 5000 people in the DC area in 2008 alone. Dakshina’s Unique Adult Outreach Program provided free tickets to over 400 underprivileged adults through our work with local partners such as (SOME) So Others May Eat, Christ House, Martha’s Table and Miriam’s Kitchen.

Can We Count On Your End-Of-Year Support Again?

Your support made this growth possible. How? Every dollar you donated went directly towards our artistic projects and outreach programming. Dakshina is currently run entirely by volunteers, with zero dollars going towards staff overhead. All of your donations go towards our project related costs. Yet no one – no one – on the administrative staff is paid a dime! Every cent goes into producing, marketing and paying our artists. All of the work is done by our dedicated volunteers, and board members.

Dakshina has a long list of bills to pay for studio rentals, theater rentals, costumes, licensing fees, recording fees, insurance riders, theater rentals, artist travel costs and fees, equipment rental/maintenance, tapes, DVDs, mailing costs, and the list goes on and on. During this recession year, grants are dwindling, ticket sales are lower and corporations are cutting back on support, and that means we rely on you. We guarantee you this: Your support is no drop in the bucket for us. Even small donations make a real and immediate difference.

We’ve raised close to $8,000 of our $20,000 match. Can you help raise the remainder of our Challenge Grant? Can you join our “Dollar a Day” club? Our “Dollar a Week” club? Or whatever you can afford?

How You Can Help

1.		Make a secure, tax-deductible contribution online in less than a minute (Chip In link on the left). Make a difference in the lives of local dancers. If you’d rather send a check, please mail it to Dakshina/Daniel Phoenix Singh Dance Company, 2008 16th Street NW #304, Washington DC 20009.
2.	See if your Employer will match your donation to Dakshina (remember we are a registered 501(c) 3 organization)
3.	Spread the word, Tell 5 of your friends about Dakshina, ask them to match your donation and sign up for our email list.

Looking Ahead

Our highlights in 2010 include a February reception where you’ll get to see pictures and videos of our recent trip to India. Please reserve February 6th for Dakshina and join us for our Fall in Love with Dance Gala. Lorry May, re-constructor for the Sokolow Foundation will be in residence with the company and we’ll be returning to Dance Place on May 1-2, 2010 with Anna Sokolow’s Rooms and our signature Bharata Natyam and Fusion works. Stay tuned for more exciting news about our other programs.

Keep us on our Feet–You are the dance!

Daniel Singh

Want to experience the movement? Join Dakshina today!

Currently Dakshina is seeking Board Members and volunteers who have experience in the following areas: Fundraising, Corporate Relations, South Asian Community Liaison, LGBT Community Liaison, Non-Profit Law, and Accounting. In addition, we are looking for event planning volunteers to help us organize our 2010 season. Our volunteers get to meet international artists and work in a hands-on environment, meet wonderful people and have fun while doing it all. Make a difference in your community and the arts scene. Email us at info@dakshina.org to get started. Visit our Facebook page for ongoing updates and to get a sneak peak at our rehearsal pictures. www.facebook.com/DakshinaDC.