Sampradaya Dance Creations Was Host To The First National Dance Symposium For South Asian Dance In Canada

Mississauga, ON - For three intensive days in July, Sampradaya Dance Creations hosted a national dance symposium for South Asian dance in Canada titled Beyond Boundaries from July 24-26, 2015 in Mississauga, Ontario. This was the first time a national gathering was presented for South Asian Dance in Canada. The primary intention was to provide a forum for the next generation of artists working in South Asian dance to articulate their vision on how to build on the foundation developed by their visionary predecessors in an effort to create a future that best represents and responds to the current realities of next generation artists, in terms of training, professional and career development and performing opportunities across Canada.

Envisioned as a forum for networking and to share collective strategies on how South Asian dance can further strengthen its place in Canadian dance, the symposium offered attendees the opportunity to take part in topical panel discussions, film screenings, dance workshops and performances.

The symposium opened with Dance-Forward an inspiring evening that began with the felicitating of special guest, Guru K. Kalyanasundaram's , Lata Pada’s guru and the patriarch of the family where the bharatanatyam dance tradition (Thanjavur) Sampradaya’s dance style is rooted in was acknowledged. This was followed by a smashing line-up of seven emerging dancers from various classical dance traditions from across North America that included: Malavika Santhosh (Vancouver), Riya Mittal (Edmonton), Shobi Ruben ( Toronto), Harikishan S. Nair (Toronto), Mala Pisharody ( Toronto) Nivedha Ramalingam (Toronto) and Kirthi Rao (USA).The second day featured a movement-based workshop with notable choreographer Natasha Bakht (Ottawa) and a topical panel discussion that garnered the participation of visionary and pioneer dance artists including: Janak Khendry (Toronto), Rina Singha (Toronto), Jai Govinda (Vancouver), Joanna de Souza (Toronto), Usha Gupta (Edmonton), Sowmya Dakshinamurti (Winnipeg), Kirupanithy Ratneswaran (Toronto) and Lata Pada ( Mississauga) who shared their heartfelt stories of dedication to establishing classical dance in their respective communities. That evening concluded with amasterful solo performance by international bharatanatyam dance artist Malavika Sarukkai (India)who captivated the audience in attendance at Meadowvale Theatre.

The final day was focused on next-generation voices and strategizing real solutions for the future of dance among artists and attendees. An engaging and spirited panel discussion by emerging artists from across Canada included Enakshi Sinha (Toronto) , Sujit Vaidya (Vancouver) , Kiruthika Rathanaswami (Edmonton) , Malar Janagan (Toronto) , Parul Gupta (Toronto) , Julie Beaulieu ( Montreal) and Meera Kanageswaran (Mississauga) voiced experiences and concerns as classical artists trying to forge a professional career in dance. Concluding the symposium was a performance by Sampradaya Dance Creations who performed a classical dance work titled Parampara that brilliantly showcased the beauty of tradition with three choreographed pieces beginning with the patriarch of the tradition Guru K. Kalyanasundaram, followed by his son, Harikrishna Kalyanasundaram and ended with work by Lata Pada displaying the talents of sixteen dancers accompanied by six musicians on stage at Meadowvale Theatre.

Lata Pada Artistic Director for Sampradaya Dance Creations concludes “I think we can feel good about what was accomplished over the three days but, there is more to be done in our respective communities across the country. It is our hope that meaningful connections were made and that a collective commitment was cemented with the next generation who will to see to the prosperous future of classical dance in Canada”.

StarBuzzOnline