INTERVIEW WITH CANVAS REBEL

Hello, Music On Pointe Community!

Our founder and director was interviewed by Canvas Rebel (canvasrebel.com) this past August.

We would like to share it with you, so you can learn more about the core of our mission. Enjoy!

https://canvasrebel.com/meet-reshma-anwar/

Meet Reshma Anwar

AUGUST 21, 2023

We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Reshma Anwar. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Reshma below.

Alright, Reshma thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. I’m sure there have been days where the challenges of being an artist or creative force you to think about what it would be like to just have a regular job. When’s the last time you felt that way? Did you have any insights from the experience?

I love being a creative. It defines me in anything I do. That doesn’t mean it is always easy but definitely worth experiencing. As artists we have the privilege to express freely and to put a mirror in front of the face of society and reflect the times we live in. That is an incredible privilege and responsibility.

I honestly don’t think there is such a thing as a “regular job.” Being an artist could be defined as such as well. But I am actually also building a career in public policy and even though it can be stressful at times, I enjoy living both purposes with the goal of being able to connect the both.

I do believe in the arts as a tool for change and would like to build programs in the International Development context.

Reshmadanse logo
Reshma's headshot with braids
As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

I was born and raised in Leipzig, Germany, where I was actually also commissioned to choreograph a solo, “Diversity,” for the 50th anniversary of Leipziger Tanztheater. But my roots lay in India and Pakistan. I graduated from The University of the Arts in Philadelphia with a Bachelor of Fine Arts (Hons.) in Dance and a minor in Music Business, Entrepreneurship and Technology in Music. Since then, I have worked with various choreographers with international recognition. In Miami, I worked with companies, such as Augusto Soledade Brazzdance, Peter London Global Dance and Pioneer Winter Collective. I alo founded Music On Pointe, an international collaboration platform for artists and movement enthusiasts, through which I hosted already three benefit concerts for organizations all over the world.

After having volunteered in Jamaica, Haiti and the Lotushouse shelter in Miami to implement dance programs for women and children in need, she has had the opportunity to act as a Group Leader in 2017 at Ailey Camp Miami, the 2016 National Arts and Humanities Youth Program Award recipient, changing lives of children within the community in a positive way through dance and generally the arts, which will be an ongoing mission for me.

In New York City, while being a student at the Professional Division at the Ailey School, I was also engaged in various projects around New York City, including the “Table of Silence” Project with Buglisi Dance Theater in remembrance of the victims of 9/11 and UNDER I STAND with Dana Caspersen, as part of her fellowship at NYU, addressing topics such as structural racism.

I also hold a Master in Public Administration from the London School of Economics and Political Science with a focus on International Development and have also been paving my path in Public Policy the past two years.

Is there mission driving your creative journey?

As I already mentioned, I believe in the arts as a tool for change and like to participate in projects and be involved with companies with a clear mission on social change.

That is how I also drive my own artistic process.

Reshma in pointe shoes and sweater sitting on top of a box
Reshma in a green blouse and pointe shoes posing on pointe
Reshma in a green blouse and pointe shoes posing on the floor
We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.

I actually started dancing through dance therapy. I was always a mover as a child, always very active, mainly through competitive swimming. (They actually wanted to prepare me for the Olympics 2012 in Germany but I declined as I preferred going to a language school, rather than a sports school.)

But at the age of 11, I was diagnosed with Lupus. I lost my life once, was in coma and then woke back up because I was over dosed on chemotherapy due to gender and ethnicity data gaps. I was 14 then. However, since I was 11, I started dance therapy at this hospital in Bavaria where I was over summer and when I came back to my home town in Saxony, I continued taking dance classes. I was in the hospital a lot but I would have them “unplug” me and go to rehearsal and then come back, while also catching up on school work. I never had to repeat a grade during that time. So, I always say, dance saved my life and keeps me healthy to this day. And I want to share that with the world to inspire others.

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Image Credits
Photos taken by Steven Vandervelden and Laurent Leger Adame