Lata Pada is a Canadian choreographer, Bharatanatyam dancer, head
of the Sampradaya Dance Creations and founded the dance company
in 1990.
Pada said that she founded the company because she wanted to showcase
Bharatantyam dance as an art form throughout the world. She trained
under the gurus Kalaiamamani Kalyanasundaram and Padmabhushan Kalanidhi
Narayanan. She lives in Mississauga
Originally from Bangalore, India, Lata Pada has made
Canada her home for thirty-six years. Lata's solo dance recitals
have revealed a distinctive style, described as "classicism
with an individual stamp of creativity."
Over her remarkable dance career, Lata Pada has performed more
than six hundred concerts, including a command performance for the
President of India in 1992 and two extensive solo performance tours
of North America including appearances at venues such as the Metropolitan
Museum of the Arts (New York), The World Bank (Washington). She
has also performed at such prestigious international festivals as
the International Arts Festival of China (1989), Ibero Americano
Theatre Festival (Colombia - 1991), WOMAD (Toronto -1991), Festival
of India (Indonesia -1991), Rhythms of India (Toronto -1993), Centro
Nacional de Las Artes (Mexico -1995), Kalanidhi Dance Festival (Toronto
-1996) and the Canada Dance Festival (Ottawa - 1998).
LATA lost two daughters and her husband in the 1985 Air
India Kanishka tragedy:
- On June 23, 1985, her husband Vishnu Pada and daughters Arti
and Brinda died in the bombing of Air India Flight 182
- Lata Pada expressed disappointment in the Canadian government's
investigation of the Air India incident.
- Lata Pada became a spokesperson for the families of the victims.
- After the crash she created the dance piece "Revealed By
Fire" in remembrance of the incident.
Her tremendous inner strength and resilience enabled her cope
with this terrible loss and to continue to bring her unique artistic
gifts to the world. Pada married geologist Vishnu Pada when she
was 17 years old. Pada received a master's degree in fine arts from
York University in 1997.
Her first home in Canada was in the remote mining township of Thompson,
Manitoba. As the only woman of South Asian origin in her community,
Lata embraced the opportunity to learn about Canadian lifestyles
and traditions by becoming active in numerous community groups.
In turn, she gave dance performances and lectures on the culture
and performing arts of India.
She is a founding member of the South Asian Advisory Committee
of the Royal Ontario Museum and is assisting in the planning and
development of their future South Asian Gallery. She has also served
on the Board of Directors of the Living Arts Centre in Mississauga
and currently sits on their Arts and Entertainment Committee.
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