2007 New Pioneers Awards SfCarchive
Channel: SkillsforchangeArchive SfC
Date: 2007-06-19

Hari Krishnan (Arts)

Born in Singapore, trained in South India, and now living in Toronto, Hari Krishnan represents a new community of contemporary artists merging Asian and Western sensibilities to create a new Canadian aesthetic that is grounded in classicism while speaking to a global modern audience. Bridging academic scholarship and performance, Mr. Krishnan is an internationally recognized master of the South Indian courtly dance known as Bharatanatyam, and is also renowned for his experimental work across the world.

When Mr. Krishnan arrived in Winnipeg in May 1991, the classical status of his art form, which should have placed it on a par with ballet, was largely neglected. As a male practitioner of an already "peripheral" art form, it was doubly difficult for him to establish himself in Canada's dance scene.

Since relocating to Toronto in 1997, Mr. Krishnan has raised the bar for South Asian dance both within the Toronto dance community and beyond. His contributions have expanded the parameters of South Asian dance and created an awareness of Indian classical dance in innovative and dynamic ways in Canada and abroad.

Currently the Artistic Director of the Toronto-based company inDANCE, Mr. Krishnan holds an MA in Dance from York University and a BA in Linguistics and Asian Studies from the University of Manitoba. He is also Visiting Professor of Dance at Wesleyan University in Connecticut. His experimental and vintage choreographies are performed at international venues, including St. Mark's Dance Space in New York City, The Royal Opera House in London, UK, The Museum Theatre in Chennai, India, The Smithsonian Institute in Washington, DC, the Canada Dance Festival in Ottawa, and the Canadian Museum of Civilization in Hull. He is also regularly invited to give talks and conduct classes and lecture-demonstrations at academic institutions in Canada, the US, UK and India.

For more than a decade, Mr. Krishnan has documented, translated, and analyzed the last vestiges of hereditary systems of dance in South India. His ethnographic research integrates the disciplines of performance studies, anthropology, history, and gender studies. Mr. Krishnan is also the co-founder of The Mangala Initiative, a non-profit Canadian organization which provides economic assistance to disenfranchised communities of female artists in South India.