LEADERSHIP
Ottawa based artist Samyuktha, is a versatile Bharathanatyam, Kathak and an Indian Folk style dance artist. Samyuktha started her dance journey at the age of 7 under the tutelage of Guru Nirupama and Rajendra of Abhinava Dance Company (ADC), India. As
a young dancer, she earned several accolades by winning awards both in school and her colleges (Sri Sai College and Mount Carmel College, Bangalore, India). Samyuktha was part of the Indian Dance Association for Mount Carmel College. As part of the student union, she also served as the Asst. Cultural Secretary. She succesfully managed over 4000 students and 200 associations during her time as Asst. Cultural Secretary. She is also well versed in Carnatic music, a South Indian style of singing under the tutelage of Guru Ranganayaki Rajan, India/USA. Samyuktha performed all over India, UAE and Switzerland for prestigious events
and festivals. She also performed at the Kathak Mahotsav in New Delhi and for several prestigious festivals in India. Samyuktha was with Abhinava Dance Company (ADC) as a principal dancer for over 10 years which led her to dvelve deeper into dance.
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Samyuktha was accepted into the prestigious Kalakshetra Foundation, Rukmini Devi College of Performing Arts in Chennai, India. Her Gurus, Lokesh Raj, Tangamani Natarajan, Ganga Thampi and the then Director Miss Leela Samson gave her great support and training. She graduated from the dance program with a 1 year promotion, and with first class honors in 2009. Samyuktha completed her Arangretrum (debut performance) under the guidance of Gurus Kiran Subramaniam and Sandhya Kiran from Bangalore, India. She then taught at the Temple of Fine Arts in Malaysia and Singapore before joining Sampradaya Dance Academy (SDA) in Canada in 2011. As a Senior Dance Teacher at SDA, Samyuktha trained students, prepared them for Arangetrums, was instrumental in the implementation of the ISTD curriculum, was a company dancer and also was a inventory - costume manager for the entire academy. As an arts educator, Samyuktha was on the TDSB and Peel Region School Board roster where she conducted several residencies, and training sessions. She was also on the artist roster at Prologue to Performing Arts and conducted workshops at festivals such as Paprika and several others.
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With the support of the Ontario Arts Council, Samyuktha was accepted into Arts Administration and Cultural Management program at Humber College, Toronto. She graduated from the program with honours and several accolades to her credit. Further to the program she worked with companies such as Dancer Transition Resource Centre, Sunny Artist Management, lbs per sq" performance, Toronto Arts Foundation, Jaberi Dance Theatre, Lua Shayenne Dance Company. Most recently, she worked as the Program Manager at Canadian Dance Assembly (CDA). At CDA, she worked on projects such as Decolonizing Dance, Six Nations Educational Trip, Indigenous Bus Tours in Toronto and Ottawa. She also supported the CDA conference in 2019 which was in partnership with CAPACOA.
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To further expand her dance skill sets, she was part of Peggy Baker Dance Project's August Intensive for two consecutive years (i.e. 2015 and 2016) and trained in basic ballet with Christine Wright at The National Ballet of Canada. Samyuktha was one of the performers for the 72-Person Ball Passing at the Fall for Dance North festival in 2017. She also performed at the Toronto Newcomer Day with Anishanabee artist DJ Classic Roots in 2019.
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Samyuktha was part of the 2020 Cultural Leadership Program at Banff Centre. Since then, she has been working diligently with the IBPOC community with a long term view of creating and fostering systemic change. Artistically, she continues to seek teaching and mentorship opportunities. She currently is taking advanced Bharatanatyam classes to enhance her performance opportunities both in Canada and overseas.
Currently, KDC is actively seeking performance and teaching opportunities in the National Capital Region (NCR) to share its passion of dance​. ​
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COLLABORATORS
COMING SOON
BOARD OF DIRECTORS
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Jenna Spencer
President
Jenna Spencer is a musician and multidisciplinary artist. She has performed across Ontario and Quebec with notable appearances at the National Art Centre’s, Ontario Scene Festival, Pop Montreal, City Folk and OXW. Jenna holds an Honors Bachelor of Arts from the University of Ottawa in Indigenous Studies with a minor in Women’s Studies. She has dedicated most of her professional arts administration career to prominent not-for-profit organizations in Ottawa. Jenna currently works at the Digital Arts Resource Centre, one of the largest artist-run centres in Canada and previously sat on the Board of Directors for Girls+ Rock Ottawa. Jenna continues to ground both her professional career and artistic practice in social justice activism, advocacy and community building within the Ottawa region and is excited to continue her work in this way with the powerful force that is, Kalasadhana Dance Company.
Avee Purohit
Secretary
My name is Avee Purohit and am a public policy professional with knowledge in the interdisciplinary study of social and economic development. I am a graduate student at Carleton University pursing a Master’s in Public Policy and Administration, and currently work as Policy Analyst in Natural Resources Canada. As a recent immigrant myself, I am passionate about immigration and migrant rights, and I am involved in several equity-related initiatives both at School and at work. I work closely
with the SPPA Student Society at Carleton University and am the VP-Diversity and Inclusion for this year. As part of the role, I have been involved in organizing events and professional development workshops centered around issues of equity and diversity, promoting initiatives that support racialized voices in the school, and working towards providing a safe space for any concerns related to diversity and inclusion. As a past Bharatanatyam dancer myself, I am also deeply passionate about dance, culture
and creative arts. I am extremely grateful for this opportunity, and I look forward to working with your team.