lata pada
Lata Pada is one of Canada’s most distinguished Bharatanatyam artists
with over 50 years of performance, teaching and choreography.
She is the Founder and Artistic Director Emerita of SAMPRADAYA Dance
Creations (1990), an award-winning company at the forefront of Indian
dance in Canada. She has had a successful career as an artist, scholar,
dance educator, cultural arts producer and consultant and heads the
SAMPRADAYA Dance Academy, Canada’s premiere Bharatanatyam
training organization.
Over the past forty-five years, she has built a world-class institution for
Indian dance in Canada and has been recognized as an important pioneer
in building an appreciation and validation for Indian dance on mainstages
across Canada.
Lata has had an extensive, international career as Bharatanatyam soloist
and holds an MFA in Dance from York University (1996). She brings a
global world view to her dance creations, recognized for their distinct and
engaging classical and contemporary explorations. Her choreographic
vision is compelled by her desire to reinvigorate Bharatanatyam as a
dynamic dance form as it navigates new and uncharted territory resulting in
a stunning range of solos, ensemble works and multi-disciplinary
productions.
Among her many noted awards and honours, Lata is a recipient of the
Order of Canada (2009) and the Pravasi Bharatiya Samman (2010)
conferred by the President of India. (2010).
Lata is a leading figure within the Canadian culturally diverse dance sector
whose participation in conferences, arts panels and assessment
committees, advocates for an equitable appreciation for South Asian dance
aesthetics and traditions in the larger dance sector of dominant dance
presenters and curators.
abstract
The Curators' Compass: Navigating Art, Experience, and Impact
Panel