The Nayika Project at Atlas Performing Arts Center

The unlikely worlds of hip-hop music and Indian mythology collide with masterful mash-up The Nayika Project. Hip-hop artist Paige Hernandez and classical Indian Kuchipudi dancer Chitra Kalyandurg come to D.C.'s Atlas Performing Arts Center to spin a contemporary tale inspired by heroines from Indian myth. Through spoken word, music and dance, the production follows a modern woman who, while recovering from a tough breakup, encounters the mystical Sakhi. Even though these two women are from separate worlds, they have the potential to re-envision the experience of desire and love. Inspired by an ancient Indian text and translated through the lens of hip-hop culture, the innovative artists behind The Nayika Project break free of traditions and reframe how women are defined by their relationship to men.