Ashwaty Chennat is a movement artist and educator whose interdisciplinary and cultural exchange work sows seeds for collective narratives and empathy-building experiences. She is a principal artist with Mandala Arts, where she creates a contemporary vision of South Asian traditional arts alongside founder Pranita Nayar; and here, Ashwaty has collaborated with some of her favorite Chicago souls. Ashwaty’s work has been presented at Chicago Symphony Center, Art Institute of Chicago, Pivot Arts Festival, Logan Center for the Arts, and University of Michigan-Ann Arbor, and has received recognition from 3Arts and Pivot Arts Incubator Program. For the past three years, she has been working with jazz percussionist and composer Alvin Cobb, Jr., to create a dance suite based in Black American and Carnatic music traditions. Their project centers mental health and its role in their childhood homes through non-verbal expression. Ashwaty is grateful for all of the arts educators in her path – which began with Sudha Chandrasekhar’s Bharatanatyam class in Detroit, MI – and seeks a transformative anti-caste practice of this art.