Residency Director & Kathak technique

Sujata is a Kathak choreographer, performer, teacher, mentor and educator. Her knowledge and command over the dance form of Kathak are particularly visible in her work.  Sujata has toured all over the world, performing and teaching as a solo artist. She set up her own dance company in UK in 1985 and created many innovative projects while remaining deeply rooted in the Kathak style. Sujata teaches students of all levels including professionals with a deep focus on safe dance practice. Sujata has been involved in creating the ISTD Kathak syllabus, and is Chairperson and a senior examiner of the Classical Indian Dance Faculty of the ISTD.In 2016, she received an honorary lifetime membership award from People Dancing UK for her exceptional contribution to dance.

Kathak technique

Fasih is a world-renowned Kathak dancer. He was a disciple of Maharaj Ghulam Hussain Kathak for 20 years in Lahore, Pakistan, and has been carrying on the legacy of the great Kathak maestro through workshops, seminars and shows notably in the UK and Europe. He later continued his studies with Kumudini Lakhia in London and Ahmedabad. In 2006 he received Tamgha-e-Imtiaz, Medal of Excellence given by Pakistan State for his outstanding career in arts.

Choreography & movement analysis

Rosemary is a qualified practical choreologist. She acquired her skills through years of experience as a professional dancer and teacher, and through her Masters degree at the Laban Centre, London. After lecturing at the Laban Centre for several years, where she developed her unique approach to choreology, she went on to teach at other London-based institutions and dance centres abroad. While her initial and particular research was directed towards classical dance, she is in demand in both classical and contemporary dance spheres and is recognised as a leader in her field worldwide. In 2006, Rosemary returned to Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance as the Undergraduate Studies Year One Programme Co-ordinator and Senior lecturer in Choreological Practice.

Choreography

Akosua is the founder and director of AkomaAsa Performing Arts Academy and disseminates a dance style which fuses modern dance technique with African principles. She plays a key role in developing dancers and young talent for careers in dance and the performing arts industry in Britain. Akosua is the Children’s Casting Coordinator for Disney’s West End musical The Lion King and is involved in training young performers to prepare to play the roles of Simba and Nala in the production. She is a lecturer and PhD researcher at Canterbury Christ Church University and a visiting teacher for the Centre for Advanced Training (CAT), as well as The Place.

Body & postural alignment

Nandita is a freelance dancer, teacher and choreographer. She trained at The Royal Ballet School, and went on to work with Zürcher Ballet in Switzerland, Victor Ullate Ballet and Compania Nacional de Danza in Spain and Ballet Black and Scottish Ballet in the UK. She has toured extensively nationally and internationally, performing a range of classical, neo- classical and contemporary roles by choreographers such as David Bintley, Peter Wright, Heinz Spoerli, Victor Ullate and Ashley Page, as well as creating and performing leading roles in works by Liam Scarlett, Shobana Jeyasingh, Richard Alston, Jose Carlos Martinez and William Forsythe. Nandita teaches open ballet and movement classes in the UK and internationally.

Dance history & Natya Shastra

Chitra is recognised as a dance artist of distinction in Britain, and worldwide. In addition to her intense Bharatnatyam training, she has explored the approaches, vocabularies and devices of other dances and theatres, including western contemporary dance, Butoh, Grotowski, and physical/visual theatre. Together with her diaspora sensitivities, these explorations intellectually inform and subtly imprint her work. As long-time editor of Pulse, UK’s premier South Asian dance magazine, she propelled the magazine to international heights. Chitra teaches dance at various institutions including Goldsmiths College, University of London. Monsoon Moves is her short dance film for the BBC. Chitra is a Fellow of the Royal Society for the Arts and a Trustee of Westminster Arts.

Yoga

Liz has been teaching yoga since the 1990’s, training first with the British Wheel of Yoga. Absorbed in the health and balance of the body/mind through alignment, gesture, breathing, sequencing and relaxation, her inspiration comes from the series of Astanga Vinyasa tradition and other Hatha yoga practises including yoga nidra (deep relaxation). Liz adapts yoga postures for each individual in order to chisel into the form and help to sculpt and free each unique body. She is a board member for The Life Centre Teachers Training Course, and runs retreats and workshops nationally and internationally. Her clients have included the English National Ballet, Ralph Fiennes, Alan Rickman and Peter Gabriel.