Date, Time and Location
Date | Time | Location |
Sunday, May 31, 2026 | 3 p.m. | ASU Kerr- 6110 N Scottsdale Rd, Scottsdale, AZ 85253 |
Monday, June 1, 2026 | 7 p.m. | ASU Kerr- 6110 N Scottsdale Rd, Scottsdale, AZ 85253 |
About
In 1773, a group of British colonists rebelled against their government and its unfair taxation policy by throwing hundreds of pounds of tea into Boston Harbour.
In 1930, people from various communities and backgrounds gathered to march to the sea in Gujarat, India to make salt in defiance of the British tax of salt.
But how did they get here? What pushes the ordinary person to participate in revolution?
Silambam Phoenix has created Waves of Resistance, a classical Indian dance and music production to grapple with these powerful questions. The performances present two tales of two disparate sets of people fighting for their right to self-governance.
Performer Bios
Srimathy Mohan
Director/Choreographer
Srimathy Mohan is the founder and artistic director of Silambam Phoenix, a nonprofit organization dedicated to Indian classical dance and intercultural performance. A celebrated Bharatanatyam choreographer and director, she has led and staged all Silambam Phoenix productions since 2004, creating innovative works that bridge classical Indian traditions with contemporary theatrical storytelling. Her work includes large‑scale dance productions, interdisciplinary collaborations, and original theatrical works for both children and adults.
Greg Paladino
Composer, Music Director
Greg Paladino is a professional Music Director, he has years of experience in leadership, performance, theatre education, new work development, and music technology. He has established relationships with theatre companies around the United States, credits as Music Director and as a musician for studio cast recordings and new works. He is an educator, accompanist, vocal coach, and music staff member for several educational institutions and youth theatre programs.
Vaibu Mohan
Writer, Composer. Dramaturg
Vaibu Mohan is an Indian-American multi-hyphenate artist based in New York City, known for bridging Tamil and Indian classical traditions with contemporary Western theater. She is a writer, composer, lyricist, book writer, dramaturg, performer, and producer, with a career spanning musical theater, opera, dance, and interdisciplinary performance.
Speaker Bios
Vaswati Ghosh, PhD
Dr. Vaswati Ghosh is the residential faculty for History and Political Science. Vaswati grew up in Mumbai, India and completed her Ph.D. from the University of London, U.K. She is multilingual, and fluent in the Indian languages: Hindi, Bengali, and Marathi. She has been teaching at PVCC since 2016, and has found the perfect opportunity for sharing her international experience and love for teaching. Vaswati has taught a variety of courses: History of Asia, World History, History of the United States, History of the Middle East, Western Civilization and World Politics. She is a global traveler, and loves to integrate her travel experiences into the classroom. She is committed to her discipline, presents research papers, attends conferences on American History, Association for Asian Studies, Asian Studies Development Program, American History Journal, Journal of American Heritage, and Political Science Quarterly.
Vaswati’s primary research interests are in the history of colonization, Indian diaspora, gender and immigration. She is closely involved in numerous clubs that encourage the study of diversity, ethnicity, and equity in the college and the local community. She has lived in the United States, United Kingdom and India, where students have varied in ethnicity, nationality, age, and culture. Her experiences with students from Mexico, South America, Europe, Africa, the Middle East, India, China, Japan, and Russia, as well as students with learning disabilities, first generation students, gives her the sensitivity and understanding of individual differences and inter-cultural communication.
Calvin Schermerhorn, PhD
Calvin Schermerhorn is Professor of History at Arizona State University who teaches American history and researches capitalism, slavery, and racial inequities. He is the author of The Plunder of Black America: How the Racial Wealth Gap Was Made (2025), Unrequited Toil: A History of United States Slavery (2018), The Business of Slavery and the Rise of American Capitalism, 1815-1860(2015), and Money over Mastery, Family over Freedom: Slavery in the Antebellum Upper South (2011). He is co-editor of Rambles of a Runaway from Southern Slavery by Henry Goings (2012).
Sponsors
