Anjali

Anjali is a DJ, Dancer and Artist. Her work is primarily concerned with creating a collective memory through songs, dance and imagery while pushing forward a working class, immigrant feminist agenda on the dance floor. As a DJ and dance floor instigator, she has worked to promote the future and vintage sounds of the South Asian and Desi diaspora within the larger Global Bass movement. She moves between two styles of performance, from behind the decks as a DJ to the front of the stage as a Bhangra dancer, all the while exploring her own identity and using the dance floor as a place to build solidarity.

Well-known as a dance floor instigator alongside her partner-in-crime, The Incredible Kid, she hosts TROPITAAL! A Desi Latino Soundclash (est. 2013) & ANDAZ (est. 2002), two of the Northwest’s longest running dance parties.

Since forming their partnership in 2000, Anjali & The Kid have played numerous festivals and clubs from New Delhi to Vancouver, BC, NYC to SF. The duo perform both together and individually.

Anjali teaches Bhangra, Giddha and Filmi Item Girl Bollywood weekly (since 2013) at The Viscount Dance Studio. Archives of her years spent as a radio host on XRAY & KBOO can be found online. In 2023, The Oregon Arts Commission awarded her an Individual Artist Fellowship for Dance. She is also a recipient of RACC’s Arts3C Grant Program for Dance. 

Since her Portland debut in 2000, DJ Anjali has existed as Portland’s primary advocate and dance missionary for the many varied electronic sounds of the South Asian/desi diaspora. She introduced “bhangra” & “Bollywood” to the dance floors of Portland and is also known for throwing down Arabic, Dancehall, Hiphop, Reggaeton, Dembow, Global Bass and more in her sets. 

Photo by Zackary J. Perry