Margia Shiriti is the Artistic Director and Choreographer of the Bangladesh Academy of Fine Arts (BAFA) and a teaching artist for the Bronx Academy of Arts & Dance. Trained in Kathak & Bharatanatyam, Margia specializes in Rabindra Nritya & Bangladeshi Folk dance. She has performed in lead roles of several of Rabindranath Tagore's dance dramas in theaters in New York and New Jersey: Chandalika, Tasher Desh, Chitrangada, Mayar Khela. As a professional mental health therapist, her mission is to incorporate corrective experiences into artistic spaces, especially when working with the Bangladeshi immigrant diaspora (e.g., mental health healing, body positivity, self-acceptance, school-life balance).
Because she primarily serves a low-income immigrant community, Margia organizes regular philanthropic community events such as the following: Food/ clothing drives & distributions, free flu-shots, mobile covid testing sites, etc. Her belief is that if the community's basic needs are met, the people will be more inclined to engage in activities which promote mental wellbeing, cultural advancement as a society, and practical application of academic excellence benefitting the community. This concept is supported by Maslow's hierarchy of needs.
