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2023-12-31-accounts

ANNUAL REPORT FOR KALA THE ARTS - 2023

This report covers the period from Jan 1st 2023 to Dec 31st 2023.

Registered Charity Number 1076790 Registered Company Number 3686034

Address: The Orchard, White Hart Lane, Basingstoke

Hants RG21 4AF

admin@kalathearts.co.uk www.kalathearts.co.uk

Governing Document Memorandum & Articles of Association

Objects of the Charity The Advancement of Education of the General Public In Arts

Trustees who operated through this financial year were:

Raka Nandra

Mike Long

Priya Brown Resigned on the 7[th] of September

Jini Cherian

Shweta Kapadia

Emma Raven

Haimanti Kumar joined on the 27[th] of September

Account Summary

Turnover was £150,796 Expenditure was £117,103. of which 98% was spent on charitable activities and 2% on administrating the charity including insurance, stationery etc.

Our Vision

Our vison at Kala The Arts (KTA) is to educate, develop, create and promote South Asian dance to the wider public through community workshops, educational workshops, dance classes, exhibitions and public performances. KTA is an artistic company, and the core part of its ethos is to support the artistic Director to create new work for existing, new and contemporary audiences. We work with national, international, and local artists to create engaging, inspiring work and help the development of artists. We achieve this via applications for essential funding, and by working in partnership with educational and community focused organisations together with business sponsors, museum services and local authorities.

At Kala the Arts, we continue to strengthen the recognition of classical Indian dance forms in the UK by bringing focus and attention to the oldest form, Odissi and its related arts. Kala The Arts is the development organisation for Odissi dance in the UK. Odissi

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as an art form is aligned with the environment and the natural world. We work towards sharing this through the various choreographic collaborations and in doing so raise conscious awareness of the environment and the challenges of our modern world.

We want to create a space for classical Indian dance and related arts to develop and grow. Taking inspiration from these dance forms, we create innovative projects that reach a wide, new and contemporary audience. We also commission music composers, dance artists, visual arts and others for various ambitious projects.

Summary of Achievements:

The charitable work carried out by KTA is in respect of education through Indian dance, and music. The main elements are

Artistic projects, artist development and professional performances

The main project of the year was the Journey of KTA as a new NPO of Arts Council England. Highlights included celebrating 25 years of KTA at Haymarket Basingstoke, projects in Rushmoor (teaching, inset training and Victoria Day celebration), Odissi hub, Celebration of Diwali Light it Up, (supported in kind by Basingstoke and Deane Council and HCC) and Diwali in Reading (funded by Reading BID and supported by Reading Council).

28[th] January – Vasant Utsav, a performance at Vyne School Basingstoke featuring music and dance performances. We invited Avtar Singh from Slough to play the special Mayuri Veena accompanied on Tabla by Manab Basu. We also saw the start of our new Tabla classes with 7 students. The event was attended by 40-50 participants.

23[rd] March - Kala The Arts put on an exciting event at the Vyne School for refugees from Afghanistan to mark Afghan New Year, commissioned and supported by Basingstoke voluntary action. The programme comprised an Afghan band from Southampton, Afghan food, and KTA performances. About 20-23 Afghani families attended this making it just under 100 people on the day. It was attended by Cllr Jay Ganesh. Kala‘s staff, Andy and Sushmita, managed the event.

8th June : Kala The Arts was involved in the Victoria day parade in Aldershot. Kala The Arts students attended the Parade and young dancers and professional artists performed. This was organised by the events team of Aldershot.

17[th] June KTA worked with Cranbourne school students and professional artists to deliver 3 workshops and performances for Basingstoke World Party held at Eastrop Park

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8[th] July – Haymarket 25 years

A programme of dance and music to celebrate 25 years of Kala the Arts at Haymarket Theatre Basingstoke was choreographed and curated by the artistic Director Sushmita Pati. Lead artists from across the country performed “Sounds of the Earth”. The choreography also included a senior Kathak student of KTA. Students shared their journey with professional artists. Odissi students performed two choreographic works. There were also perfromances from our Kathak student dancers

and the young Tabla students and with their teacher. A representative from Arts Council attended along with 6 - 8 local Cllrs. We had students who travelled from Manchester and London to perform. With an audience of 110, there were in total 13 artists and 40 students involved in the show. KTA commissioned a digital film by Helen Pritchard for the event that was shared at the show.

29/30th July - Whitchurch Children’s Festival. There was a Kathak performance by Jaimini Sahai and Kala's dancers together with workshops for children on 30th July in Kathak and Odissi.

2[nd] of September performance at Rushmoor Cultural day event, celebrating the diverse communities of Rushmoor, in Farnborough Town Centre

2[nd] September Oakridge Summer festival. KTA provided Rangoli design workshops, storytelling, a dance workshop and visual arts mapping of our local community which travelled to various other events in the town.

3rd September. There was a performance at the Onam Harvest festival celebrating with classical dances Mohiniattam, Bharatnatyam and Odissi at Elai Basingstoke. Newly recruited artists were appointed and the Artistic Director worked with them over two weeks to deliver the project. This was the first time KTA worked with a local business.

28[th] October – Reading Diwali. Following on from last year's success the Diwali parade took place in Reading town centre with dancers, drummers, lanterns, puppets and music. Prior to the Diwali parade Kala ran INSET courses both online and in person with teachers from schools in Reading and Aldershot and sessions for parents.

3[rd] November – Diwali Basingstoke. See the special Diwali light it up section.

A new dance choreography Sapta toured to Nehru centre on the 8[th] of November and later to London for a performance for the Bar society on the 23[rd] of November. This was all performed with two live musicians Yadavan on vocals and Rohan Roy on Violin. Sushmita Pati performed with them and also created some solo pieces. They had over 120 attendees for both these events.

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Diwali Light It Up

Kala The Arts undertook and delivered an incredible range of programmes and activities this year in its greatly expanded ”DIWALI – Light It Up” Programmes. It delivered three sets of programmes in Basingstoke and Reading and so successfully delivered on its KPIs.

KPI (1) : To increase the range and amount of activity Kala is able to deliver and the number of people it reaches. Deliver programme with 5 schools, two insets and increase from 12 participatory workshops to 20 participatory workshops.

KPI (3): To seek to have a new regional role and develop it further in year 2 and 3.

We delivered 20 activities related to Diwali. We ran a number of advance workshops in Festival Place, Apex building, Reading and Broad Street Mall, Reading as well as in 5 schools. Over 900 participants attended the workshops.

BASINGSTOKE ‘DIWALI – Light It Up’ PROGRAMMES

Friday 3[rd] November 2023

2023 was our third year delivering programmes for Diwali in Basingstoke. We ran advance workshops, a Parade, and creative performances.

Leading up to the Diwali parade, there were advance workshops on 25[th] and 26[th] October in Festival Place Basingstoke and Market Place Centre for Lantern Making, Rangoli Map Making, Diwali stories, Odissi dance and how to wear a Sari.

As befits the spirit of Diwali, the packed parade saw a river of people and illuminations, including the absolutely beautiful moving illuminated giant butterflies which were 15 feet in height created by Emergency Exit Arts. The parade moved through the town centre to the amphitheatre where the performances took place. The whole event saw an exciting mix of professional and local performers.

This year we have met KPI1 by offering a greater range of activity than in previous years. While it is difficult to count large crowds, we estimate there were several thousand people who took part in the 2 parades with 143 artists performing.

We also worked hard to successfully deliver on KPI2. In Basingstoke we successfully

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developed our relationship with Festival Place working with them more closely on the marketing of the event. We also worked with Love Basingstoke and more closely with B&DBC on the planning of the event.

We formed new relationships with a number of new artists and companies, including ZoieLogic Dance Theatre on the workshops and an artistic collaboration with Devika Rao from Leeds and Yakshagana artists. The performance element of this event was larger than in previous years. A particular highlight was the Yakshagana artists whose costumes and performances were stunning. Kala’s Odissi Students performed a very beautiful piece choreographed by Sushmita.

READING ‘DIWALI – Light It Up’ PROGRAMMES

Saturday 28[th] October 2023

This is the second year that Kala has successfully delivered its Diwali programme in Reading. There was a slightly different route this year, but like last year it was also very successful. We achieved our KPI 2 (2) working closely with Reading BID, and also with Reading Borough Council.

Our primary achievement in this event is in terms of meeting KPI3.

It is almost impossible to estimate numbers when you have large crowds but we had 71 performers, watched by an audience of around 500 people, and the parade was seen by several thousands of people, some of whom joined in the celebrations. A clip from the Reading Diwali was shared in London Diwali Trafalgar event the following day.

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CELEBRATE DIWALI - READING SHOPPING MALL

Saturday 4[th] November 2023.

Broad Street Mall Reading welcomed over 400 visitors to celebrate Diwali. Workshops included learning traditional dance as well as making Rangoli art. There was a performance of the new composition ‘Sapta’ which was then toured to two other locations in London later in November.

This is a new activity for Kala which successfully met all our KPIs

We ran a programme of events, performances and workshops in Reading Broad Street Mall. This was seen by thousands of people.

We worked with Broad Street Mall who supported this event, both financially and on the day. We also had a new partnership with esteemed Kathak Dancer Sonia Sabri, so that was an exciting new development. Kala’s own dancers and Associate Artists gave very strong performances. Our Odissi students again showed their mettle and Kali Chandrasegaram also gave a commanding performance. We also ran workshops in both visual arts and in dance as well. Due to promotion, audience came not only from Reading but also from Slough, Newbury, Bracknell and London.

All photos by A Buchanan or Paul King.

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Links to various films and footage

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kjk6WtpOF6U&t=15s - Diwali in Basingstoke covered live by BBC

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/7wsBO8vKO-4 International artist Debabrata Pal creating Lotus for Light it Up at Festival place Basingstoke

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wf8Kradhdyo Sushmita Pati with musicians Y Yadavan and Rohan Roy. Nehru Centre Indian High Commission (Collaborations)

= https://www.youtube.com/watch?v wZch39cgUsQ Sushmita, Debabrata and Zoie logic dancers Collaborative short piece between Odissi, visual arts and contemporary dance

= https://www.youtube.com/watch?v anEY0wcd_Gs Diwali at Reading High Street 2023 film

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TvNXD2FBl0M Sushmita Pati talking to Seema Kotecha BBC Newsnight on mental health issues and taboo within Asian communities. The audience are members of Hamara Club

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7wT5HLLlAOs Oakridge and Popley Boys Bollywood

Educational projects

28[th] April - Kala The Arts joined the Artsmark award partnership. Workshops took place in 8 schools. We have also worked with ten NPO partners as part of this scheme.

29[th] and 30[th] April - Free dance classes were held in Basingstoke, Reading and Aldershot to celebrate international dance day

3[rd] to 6[th] April Easter HAF including kite making and flying, football, Easter egg hunt, multiple dance forms, crafts, yoga, storytelling, singing and nutritional food. It was attended by many families and students.

29[th] May - Kala The Arts was involved in setting up the first National Odissi Hub meeting which was held online. As well as Kala the meeting featured distinguished contributors Parvati Rajamani, Elena Catalano, Katrina Rout, Garika Mathur, Pallavi Bhasak Katie Ryan, and many more senior Odissi dance artists too. Meetings followed in September later in the year.

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In June and July Kala led some trial dance classes for 6 to 16 year olds held at Oakridge Hall for all, some of the time was used to create choreography for students to perform in August festival later in the year.

19[th] June - Mindfulness workshops through dance movement with Senjuti and Sushmita worked with 255 students and 13 staff developing skills

24[th] July – 17[th] August Summer HAF programme including yoga, dance, drama, games, singing and nutrition. The scheme was attended on average 17 -18 students per week most of them year 6 and secondary students. The HAF scheme catered for a diverse mix of students including Ukrainian refugees.

29[th] July - Kala students performed at Reading Forbury Gardens to a few hundred attendees as part of the Chariot Festival.

26[th] October - A free Creative Movement Workshop was run by Zoielogic Dance to encourage those new to dance or movement to come and give it a go. This was aimed at students aged 8 and over.

19[th] - 22[nd] December Christmas HAF Basingstoke. The Kala HAF programme was awarded highest points for environmental awareness

Regular classes/Community Workshops

The year started with opening new classes in Kathak and Odissi at Maiden Place in Reading and later in Aldershot from Summer 2023.

We ran our regular classes for more than 30 weeks in 3 locations Reading, Basingstoke and Aldershot. Dates were 14[th] January to 18[th] March / 15[th] April to 18[th] July/16[th] September to 2[nd] December. New classes were introduced in Tabla On average 14/15 student participants attended each group and session. In this period Kala also carried on with online sessions once a week attended by 6 students.

22[nd] April – 2[nd] July / 24[th] September – 3[rd] December Aldershot dance classes – Numbers were 16 -20 in each session they were held at Aldershot Shiva temple.

1[st] June – 29[th] July Indian Dance classes Oakridge Hall for All – Numbers were low as it was a new partnership with Oakridge Community Centre.

Marketing and Administration

To support these activities, marketing staff have designed and distributed many leaflets advertising classes, produced a newsletter and banner, and regularly create new content for and update the website and our social media presence.

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We ran marketing campaigns and general marketing for several different new areas of work for Kala. These included

These are in addition to the marketing of the Regular Seasonal Classes.

KTA advertised for the admin and learning post in 1[st] quarter and 2[nd] quarter there was interest but no applicants with enough experience. Kala managed to recruit for this role towards the end of the year to start in 2024

BBC south reporters and crew came down to Basingstoke for Diwali light it Up on 3[rd] November and reported the event live. They also interviewed the artistic Director, Tribhang dancers and Jodie from Junk Jodie. BBC newsnight reader/reporter Sima Kotecha also interviewed the Artistic Director and other community leaders on the effect of mental health in the Asian community. Sima was pleased to see Sushmita as she learnt dance with her in 1980’s. This session took place in late autumn 2023.

We have greatly ramped up our presence on social media and on Facebook this year; we post several times a week now. We have 616 people who follow us with an average reach of 907 for each post. This is just reach, the number of impressions will be considerably higher. However, the campaign work completed by Sushmita on the 25 Year Anniversary event was targeted at people interested in South Asian Arts in and around Basingstoke reached 4,325 people. Our demographic for this is as an arts form and particularly as a dance form is of course largely women. So, for us to have over a quarter of our followers as men is quite a positive achievement. During 2023 increasing use was made of the Facebook, Instagram and YouTube channels to promote the work of Kala the Arts in the community

Volunteering and fund raising

Kala made an application to HAF Communities 4 Change and was successful in receiving a grant of 6 weeks of activities and food club. These were planned for one week in Easter, 4 weeks in Summer and 1 week in Christmas. Kala managed to recruit committed tutors and volunteers for this who received training.

The course was marketed widely as Kala wanted to make sure it reached many groups, schools, communities and disadvantaged children. The Summer sessions also included newly arrived Ukrainian refugee children in the club.

NPO (National Portfolio Organisation) funding from Arts Council England KTA was received.

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Research and creative development

AD researched on creative animal masks used in Odisha arts and commissioned artists to create 40 creative animal masks for Outdoor events. They were used at Victoria Day Rushmoor for the first time. The use of animals reenforces the ecological awareness and strengthens the compositions with the use of 3 D props. They were made creatively in a small village in Odisha by a family of artists. More sustainable resources are being researched for future productions. KTA also commissioned a visual artist to create a visual arts project mapping Basingstoke. The project was a huge success and lasted for two months, it encouraged communities to add their input and draw their surroundings.

AD also worked with Same Sky to create a new installation of Lakshmi’s lotus and hand gestures, which was designed by a visual artist from India. New artists were discovered for Parades and performances, and some worked with KTA for the 1[st] time: Zoie Logic, Sonia Sabri Dance, Emergency exit Arts, Devika Rao -Balbir Singh Company.

Raka Nandra (Chairman of Trustees)

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3686034

Kala The Arts Accounts Jan 1[st] 2023- Dec 31[st] 2023

Kala The Arts is a Company Limited by Guarantee (England). Registration No. 3686034. Registered Charity No. 1076790. Registered Office: Orchard House, White Hart Lane, Basingstoke, Hampshire, RG21 4AF.

Income and Expenditure

Income and Expenditure
Income: 2023 2022
NPO Funding £82,500
Local Authorities £19,676 £30,093
Business provider £17,495 £3,000
Private Individuals £13,661 £4,624
Charity/Trusts £11,831 £34,925
Educational Groups £2,938 £3,296
Community Group £2,200 £466
Arts Venue £377
Interest £118 £12
TOTAL £150,796 £76,416
Expenditure
Charitable
Artist Fees1 £53,331 £30,416
Arts organisations £33,143 £17,657
Admin12 £10,671 £5,720
Accommodation £7,733 £4,119
Photography and Video £4,031 £1,375
Purchases £3,415 £2,050
Leaflets £1,489 £645
Volunteer expenses3 £664 £317
Employee Travel/Expenses £406 £106
Website £262 £101
advertising £162
Sub-Total £115,307 £62,506
Non-Charitable
Insurance £706 £396
Stationary £395
Accountant £305 £230
Staff Admin £171 £154
Board Meeting Accom £120 £30
postage £86
Annual Return £13 £13
Sub-Total £1,796 £823
Total £117,103 £63,329

3686034

Surplus/(Deficit)4 £33,693
Balance Brought Forward £32,928
Balance Carried Forward £66,621
Balance Sheet 31st December 2023
Assets
Current Bank £47,877 £20,497
Deposit Bank £18,741 £12,428
Petty Cash £3 £3
Total Assets/Liabilities £66,621 £32,928

For the year ending 31/12/2023 the company was entitled to exemption from audit under section 477 of the Companies Act 2006 relating to small companies.

Directors’ responsibilities:

• the members have not required the company to obtain an audit of its accounts for the year in question in accordance with section 476,

• the directors acknowledge their responsibilities for complying with the requirements of the Act with respect to accounting records and the preparation of accounts

• these accounts have been prepared in accordance with the provisions applicable to companies subject to the small companies’ regime.

The accounts have been delivered in accordance with the provisions applicable to companies subject to the small companies’ regime.

1 No Employer National Insurance. Employee Sushmita Pati, wife of Trustee Michael Long received a salary of £32742

2 This also includes a part time marketing officer

3 Director Travel Expenses were Raka Nandra £150 and Shweta Kapadia £106

4 There were £40k in grants received in 2023 for expense in 2024.

Raka Nandra (Chairman of Directors)

3686034

CC57(b)

Independent Examiner’s Report on the Accounts

~~Receipts and Payments Accounts~~

KALA THE ARTS Report to the trustees/members of Registered charity number (optional) 1 0 7 6 7 9 0 On accounts for the year ended 3 D 1 D 1 M 2 M 2 Y 3 Y Set out on pages

Respective responsibilities of As the charity’s trustees you are responsible for the preparation of the trustees and examiner accounts; you consider that the audit requirement of section 43(2) of the Charities Act 1993 (the Act) does not apply. It is my responsibility to state, on the basis of procedures specified in the General Directions given by the Charity Commissioners under section 43(7)(b) of the Act, whether particular matters have come to my attention.

Basis of independent examiner’s My examination was carried out in accordance with the General Directions report given by the Charity Commissioners. An examination includes a review of the accounting records kept by the charity and a comparison of the accounts presented with those records. It also includes consideration of any unusual items or disclosures in the accounts, and seeking explanations from you as trustees concerning any such matters. The procedures undertaken do not provide all the evidence that would be required in an audit, and consequently I do not express an audit opinion on the view given by the accounts.

Independent examiner’s statement In connection with my examination, no matter has come to my attention (other than that disclosed overleaf *):

Signed
Name
Relevant professional qualification
or body (if any)
Address		 Date 2.09.2024
Bharti Chikhal
CGMA
55 Barn Piece
Chandlers Ford
Southampton
SO53 HP

~~Further information~~

Disclosure section Only complete if the examiner needs to highlight material problems. Give here brief details of any items that the examiner wishes to disclose

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