Rovaco Dance Company was founded in New York City in 2015 by Artistic Director Rohan Bhargava. Over the years, the company has produced a unique form of narrative dance-theater, which blends floorwork, release, ballet, bollywood, street jazz, bhangra, and contemporary partnering into one fluid whole, in multimedia collaboration with designers and composers.
Repertory has been presented by Provincetown Dance Festival, Dance NYC, Battery Dance Festival, Rhythmically Speaking, Little Island NYC, and Create:Art. The company has been a Resident Artist at Dancewave, the James Jay Dudley Luce Foundation, and the CUNY Dance Initiative at LaGuardia Performing Arts Center. Commissions have come from Mannes School of Music, Mare Nostrum Elements, Making Moves Dance Festival, and The Dance Gallery Festival.
Rovaco presents contemporary narratives through immersive concert dance with the goal of sparking social, cultural, and interpersonal conversations. Transforming quotidian gestures and motions into fully embodied phrases, our movement aesthetic aims to unearth the cathartic in the everyday.
In the past, our work has found thematic context in the power dynamics of relationships, sex and addiction under capitalism, as well as queer experiences of each. Since 2020, the company has also dived into cultural representation and exchange with a focus on the Indian sub-continent. Our dissecting and celebrating of Indian culture intends to create a safe space for contemporary Indian artists to explore their identities and artistic voices.
Each year we produce the "Rovaco Dance Party" which breaks the wall between audiences and performers through an intimate social gathering inspired by Indian hospitality culture. At the event, we serve Indian snacks and drinks and present live music and dance performances in-the-round. The night ends with a DJ dance party for all. Rovaco believes that culture is best understood when it is intimately experienced. We provide authentic cultural experiences to audiences, allowing them to examine their own embodiments of culture, and how they interact with those of others.
In cultivating this relationship with audiences, Rovaco seeks most broadly to increase viewership and appreciation for the performing arts. By striking a balance of rigor and accessibility, we hope to bring disparate communities together to ignite conversations that might not otherwise take place.
Rovaco also provides outreach opportunities through masterclasses, lecture demonstrations, open rehearsals, and post-show discussions.