DESI DIARY

KINSUTGI: A CELEBRATION OF RESILIENCE AND TRANSFORMATION

Kintsugi is inspired by the Japanese art of mending broken pottery with gold.

Sampradaya Dance Creations proudly presents the world premiere of Kintsugi – a striking new production inspired by the Japanese art of mending broken pottery with gold.

Conceived by founder Lata Pada and co-choreographed with artistic director Suma Suresh, this Indian classical contemporary work revisits poignant episodes from the Mahabharata that are both timely and timeless. For the first time, the production also explores new creative ground through AI-integration, reimagining how we tell stories.

Performed by a cast of six dancers trained in Bharatanatyam, Kathak, and contemporary vocabularies, Kintsugi features an original score blending classical Indian music by the band Trayam, featuring Praveen Rao, BC Manjunath and Grammy-nominated Varijashree Venugopal, evoking a layered emotional landscape of rupture and repair. At the helm of the AI collaboration is Dr. Rohini Srihari, University at Buffalo, New York.

Artistic Director Emerita Lata Pada shares, “The stories at the heart of Kintsugi come from the Mahabharata, yet they resonate with the fractures we live through today – division, loss, and the search for belonging. By reframing these epics through the philosophy of Kintsugi, we place the past alongside the present. Through this production, we demonstrate that the human spirit continues to find ways to repair and renew, across cultures and centuries. It is this very ability that makes us so uniquely human.”

Over the past 45 years, Pada has built a world-class institution for Indian dance in Canada and is widely recognized as a pioneer in elevating the appreciation and visibility of Indian classical dance on major Canadian stages. She has been recognized with the Order of Canada and the Pravasi Bharatiya Samman, conferred by the President of India (2010).

Growing up in the Middle East, Suma Suresh was initiated into the study of bharatanatyam under the training of Sujatha Suresh. She continues to practise, teach and perform the style and draws upon her training as an Indian Classical dancer to create the foundation to explore new forms of dance expression that combine Indian Classical and Contemporary styles. She received the 2019 MARTY Award for Dance. Besides dance, Suresh is a voice artiste and a theatre actor. She is also the co-founder of ATAM Arts collective, a Malayalam theatre group based in Toronto.

When and where: November 1 & 2, Harbourfront Centre Theatre, Toronto. 7:00 pm on Nov. 1, and 4 pm on Nov. 2. More info and tickets at www.sampradayadance.ca.