Nova Bhattacharya

Nova Bhat­tacharya is an award-win­ning, bar­ri­er-break­ing, artist and cul­tur­al leader based in Tkaron­to. Her inspi­ra­tion is found in iden­ti­ties, hybridi­ties and diver­si­ties, man­i­fest­ing cre­ations that res­onate with tech­ni­cal vir­tu­os­i­ty and lush, vivid imagery. She’s always been a rebel rein­ter­pret­ing tra­di­tions and rein­vent­ing rit­u­als. In 2008, she found­ed Nova Dance, embed­ding the prin­ci­ple that build­ing for the mar­gins ensures inclu­sion for every­one. The Com­pa­ny offers a space for vital con­ver­sa­tions and serves com­mu­ni­ty with kind­ness, com­pas­sion, and gen­eros­i­ty. Nova’s recent chore­og­ra­phy Svāhā! fea­tures a cast of 22 per­form­ers  in more than 29 dance forms cur­rent­ly prac­ticed on Tur­tle Island. The epic work embod­ies her vision of a diver­si­form com­pa­ny where the per­ceived bound­aries of cul­ture and tech­nique are dis­solved and bod­ies from the mar­gins are cen­tered. Nova believes that dance express­es the essence of our human­i­ty.