It's Private
About
It's Private
The Project
It’s Private is a community activation project that raises awareness of Intimate Partner Violence (IPV) in the South Asian community through performance, storytelling, and collective dialogue. Created by Artistic Directors Megha Sanjay & Kiran James, the project uses Indian classical dance, poetry, and music to explore the hidden realities of IPV and the silence that often surrounds it.
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Anchored by a full-length dance performance, It’s Private also includes panels, workshops, and talkbacks in collaboration with regional organizations, researchers, and clinicians. By combining art with community engagement, the project creates an entry point into conversations that are too often considered taboo or “private.”
Why This Work Matters
Domestic violence is a pervasive global issue. The World Health Organization estimates that 1 in 3 women worldwidehave experienced physical and/or sexual violence in their lifetime — most often at the hands of an intimate partner. In the United States, between 25–35% of women report experiencing IPV. Among South Asian women living in the U.S., this prevalence rises to ~40–60%.
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Despite its urgency, IPV remains profoundly underreported in South Asian communities. Shame, fear, immigration-related barriers, and tightly-knit family structures all contribute to a culture of silence and complicity. Within these contexts, IPV is frequently dismissed as a “private matter” to be resolved behind closed doors.
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It’s Private confronts that silence — inviting audiences into an honest and unsettling exploration of marriage, intimacy, and violence hidden in plain view.
Executive & Artistic Directors
Kiran James and Megha Sanjay are multidisciplinary South Asian artists and community leaders. Together, they bring years of experience in performance, teaching, and cultural organizing. With It’s Private, they extend their practice beyond the stage to address one of the most urgent, under-discussed issues facing South Asian families today.
Megha Sanjay is a Bharatanatyam artist, choreographer, and cultural strategist whose work centers storytelling, contemporary relevance, and community-building within South Asian classical arts. Known for her compelling performances and visionary leadership, Her creative practice is grounded in rigorous tradition while engaging present-day contexts with clarity and intention.
Trained in the Pandanallur and Vazhuvoor styles for over 19 years, Megha’s artistic work is known for its emotive depth, narrative precision, and thoughtful interpretation. Beyond the stage, she has spent over a decade producing events, developing artistic programs, and supporting artists through institutional and independent platforms.
Based in St. Louis, Megha is the founder of Janya—an initiative reimagining South Asian arts through interdisciplinary programming, community engagement, and immersive storytelling. She is also the Director of Operations at Arts India US. With a Masters in International Affairs, and a background spanning business, strategy, and design, she works at the intersection of heritage, systems-building, and cultural innovation.
Kiran James is a Chicago-based dancer, choreographer, educator, and podcaster whose performances and embodied practice are rooted in poetic storytelling and social justice. With 35 years of training in Bharatanatyam, Kiran creates bold, cross-cultural, and educative productions that bridge South Asian classical and ritual dance with other world dance forms.
He is the co-founder of Daya Arts, a nonprofit focused on South Asian and West African arts, and Off the Beat, a podcast imagining new futures for South Asian dance. Kiran is also a sought-after teaching artist, lecturer, judge, compere, and voiceover artist.
He has performed internationally, participated in artist residencies at Snug Harbor and Catwalk Institute, and formerly served as Executive Director of Kalapriya, a nonprofit South Asian arts organization.
Advisors
Dr Raghavan Rajagopalan
Dr. Vaidehi Rajagopalan
Lakshmi R. Iyer