Welcome Hari!
A big welcome!
Harikishan S Nair joins us as Associate Artistic Director (Intern) for 2022 with the generous support of the Metcalf Foundation Performing Arts Internship, Canada Council for the Arts and the Ontario Arts Council.
I am a first generation immigrant artist from Kerala, India. In shifting to Toronto a decade ago I have also become part of the South Asian diaspora here. I have danced and choreographed endlessly since arriving, working extensively with many artists from community to a professional level. The perceived inaccessibility for many South Asian artists to continue their art professionally in a resourced capacity was a site of deep thinking for me. I desire to contribute to developing more accessible and equitable systems through contextual knowledge, collectivity and respectful criticality to evolve different models for my communities of practice and the larger sector.
Through this Artistic Direction internship with Anandam Dancetheatre and Sampradaya Dance Creations I wish to broaden my knowledge of organizational leadership within a sector that has historically, and currently, been challenging to access for artists of marginalized practices. I am fascinated by the body of work, practice, knowledge and integrity that Lata Pada and Brandy Leary have as artists and organizational leaders in the community. Learning from both Sampradaya and Anandam will allow for a diverse experience; not only of different organizational structures but from different geographic and audience contexts, bridging the surrounding boroughs and the downtown core. This project will provide insight for developing and sustaining relationships with audiences, artists and communities that are responsive to the contemporary climate, through the digital landscape and live in person experiences.
Learning over this year, in these contexts, will allow me to bridge a skill gap necessary to work and contribute to a changing ecology, its institutions and structures and to continue creating more equitable spaces and critical awareness for the work of South Asian dance practioners evolving from their own context. I desire to contribute to the evolution of vital artistic spaces for others like myself, from the skills, projects and learning that I will acquire through this internship. I am grateful to the Metcalf Foundation, The Canada Council for the Arts and the Ontario Arts Council for their generous support of this internship opportunity.
– Harikishan S Nair
BIO
Hari is a dancer, choreographer, pedagogue and rehearsal director. He is a passionate and critical advocate for equity within the dance sector for practitioners of South Asian dance and a community leader in articulating issues in how these performance aesthetics interface with established institutions of dominant dance presenting/curation in Canada.
Born and raised in Kerala (India) he has been dancing since age 3 and is fluently trained in Bharatanatyam, Mohiniyattam and Kuchipudi. He tours new choreographic works and conducts teaching workshops and master classes extensively across North America. He has gone on to collaborate, perform, and present his work at numerous dance festivals in India, UK, Canada, and the USA. He is active in the community as a dance artist, teacher, choreographer, collaborator, rehearsal director, dramaturge and the Artistic Director of Regatta Kala Kendra. He is currently engaged in a full time year long internship studying Artistic Direction with Anandam and Sampradaya Dance Creations generously supported by the Metcalf Foundation, Canada Council for the Arts and the Ontario Arts Council.