Nova Bhattacharya’s ‘Svāhā!’ celebrates female energy with a mash-up of diverse dance styles
Nova Bhattacharya’s new work “Svāhā!” takes audiences on an imaginative journey into the heart of dance as a transformative...
- Directed and choreographed by Nova Bhattacharya
Svāhā! is a celebration of dance as a revitalizing ritual that brings us closer together. It is an offering of movement, music, colours and sensations.
Created by award-winning Nova Bhattacharya, Svāhā! embodies the transformative power of dance, expressing the uniqueness of the individual and the value of community. Dancers surrender themselves, sparking the imagination, conveying a range of thoughts and sensations through movement and creating rhythm with their entire beings.
With a cast of over 20 performers selected from a diversity of dance forms and cultural backgrounds, Svāhā! brings differences together in a collage of moving images, offering metaphors, recitation, pulsating rhythms and intense emotions, revelling in simplicity and embracing complexity, Svāhā! asks, how can we be better together?
Company
Led by Founding Artistic Director Nova Bhattacharya, Nova Dance is a radically imaginative, contemporary dance company dedicated to reflecting the evolution of Indian classical dance on the Canadian scene. Over the past decade, the company has presented a number of critically acclaimed works, initiated a range of projects to enrich artists and audiences, and created a context for South Asian dance artists to take space with their art as a vital part of Canadian society.
Creative team
- Directed and choreographed by Nova Bhattacharya
- Composer and Sound Designer Ed Hanley
- Lighting Designer Simon Rossiter
- Costume Designer Sage Paul
- Creation support Bonnie Kim, Louis Laberg-Côté, Tedd Robinson, Anisa Tejpar
- Cast Mushtari Afroz, Nidhi Baadkar, Nova Bhattacharya, Chelcia Creary, Rajvi Dedhia, Ed Hanley, Mel Hart, Gurtej (Tej) Hunjan, Neena Jayarajan, Rachana Joshi, Candace Kumar, Nyda Kwasowsky, Judy Luo, Swadhi Ranganee, Kiruthika Rathanaswami, Malavika Santhosh, Hannah Shikatani, Eilish Shin-Culhane, Ashvini Sundaram, Abigail Thomas, Sukruti Tirupattur, Yui Ugai, Purawai Vyas, Kaela Willey
National Creation Fund investment
The National Creation Fund’s investment of $160,000 gave Nova Dance the opportunity to work with a large ensemble of the country’s top Indian classical dancers during an extended workshop and rehearsal period.
Credits
Produced by Nova Dance in partnership with Citadel + Compagnie, with support from TO Live.
Partners: Canada Council for the Arts, Toronto Arts Council, Ontario Arts Council, the Metcalf Foundation, and The Theatre Centre.
Developed with support from the National Arts Centre’s National Creation Fund.
Past performances
Articles & reviews
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Once on the verge of quitting, Nova Bhattacharya is putting on a new kind of dance spectacle in Svāhā
The Canadian choreographer’s new production brings 22 dancers to the stage in an explosion of dance styles.
