Brookline-based Triveni School of Dance has been selected as a Massachusetts 2005 Catalogue for Philanthropy charity. This year’s edition of the Catalogue profiles 72 of Massachusetts' outstanding environmental, cultural, and human service agencies as "examples of excellence" in Massachusetts philanthropy. Triveni School of Dance, Inc. was chosen from a total applicant pool of over 250 organizations.
For 5,000 years, temple dancers in India have told educational stories using a highly formalized choreography combining symbolic hand gestures, facial expressions, rhythmic footwork and sculpturesque body movements. Today this ancient art is preserved, performed and promoted here in Massachusetts at the Triveni School, established in 1971 by acclaimed dancer Neena Gulati, originally from New Delhi. The School trains over 400 dancers every week, ages five to 55, in classical dance. As they learn these graceful techniques, dancers prepare for their “arangetram,” or artistic debut, featuring a two-hour solo performance.

In addition, the school ensemble gives hundreds of performances annually — including benefits for other charities—at multicultural events, schools, community centers and universities, where lectures are combined with demonstrations and workshops. Triveni has operated primarily with funds raised through tuition and modest performance fees, while private donations fund scholarships for students and help dancers cover costs of their arangetrams. 2005-06 will be Triveni’s 35th year in Massachusetts, and now you can thank them for enriching our quality of life, especially for the Indian communities that are so important to our new economy.

The Catalogue, which was the first of its kind anywhere, was created by a group of leading foundations here in 1997 to help close the gap between Massachusetts’ ranks in income and in charitable giving — then the largest such disparity in the nation. To do this, in addition to the annual Catalogue itself, the project developed the nationally-known "Generosity Index"™, a website (www.catalogueforphilanthropy.org), "Giving Massachusetts Day" proclaimed since 2001 as the day after Thanksgiving by Governors Swift and Romney, and many other "donor-friendly" tools. Since 1997, charitable giving here has doubled, from $2 billion to $4 billion, and though the Catalogue makes no claim for this growth, the Catalogue Project is widely recognized as a national leader in donor education. There are now similar Catalogues in Washington, DC, and St. Louis, MO, and others are being planned in several other philanthropic markets.

According to George McCully, President of the Catalogue, "The Catalogue is designed as a showcase for Massachusetts philanthropy, and a one-stop shop for a family's charitable giving. A single check, electronic transaction over the web or stock transfer can be allocated to as many charities as the donor pleases, and because the Catalogue is sponsored and paid-for by its philanthropic sponsors, 100% of every donation goes to the designated charities."

Triveni School of Dance, Inc. was chosen in rigorous competition by professional grantmakers, private donors, fundraisers and executive directors of charities. "Charities are selected for general excellence, cost-effectiveness, and teaching value about philanthropy," McCully said.

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