Dancer & Choreographer Rina Singha

Rina Singha, photo by Cylla Von Tiedemann

 

While the TAC is preparing to celebrate one important milestone, 35 years of funding and support for the arts in Toronto, Kathak dancer Rina Singha is celebrating three: 40 years of Kathak dance in Canada; 45 years as a soloist; and her 70th birthday.

Originally from Calcutta, at the age of 20 she was chosen for a government-sponsored project intended to revive India's classical dance styles, and was given the opportunity to train under the legendary guru Shambhu Maharaj Ji Ms Singha has performed around the world as a soloist, synthesising tradition and innovation and earning international acclaim for the purity of her technique and the skill of her interpretive powers.

In 1965 she and her family immigrated to Canada, and throughout her life here Ms. Singha has worked towards preserving and elevating the classical dance form of northern India, Kathak, meaning “to tell a story”, along with numerous other non-western dance forms. She has developed Heritage Canada programs in schools, founded and directed the Kathak Institute of Toronto, and developed a dance-based educational programme for the deaf and for intercultural understanding called A Cultural Approach to Learning. Combining her academic achievements, an M.A. (Geography) and an M.Ed. (Arts Education) and her dance training, along with her personal experiences, this programme is now implemented in a number of schools.

She is also known for the range of inspirations that inform her work, which was clearly presented in her recent performance of Manzilen – A Journey to celebrate her triple anniversary. The first half of the programme combined contemporary themes and classical stories, as well as her interest in miniature classical Indian paintings, while the second half explored the Biblical story of the four horsemen of the Apocalypse. The evening was finished with Ms. Singha’s performance of the title piece, Manzilen, illustrating her personal life’s journey.

Toronto Arts Council has been proud to support the work of Ms. Singha and her company The Rina Singha Dance Organization though our Grants Progam, and we were privileged to have her in our midst both as a member of the TAC’s Board of Directors and as the chair of the Dance Committee 2003-2005. She has received many awards for her contributions to the arts throughout her career, among them the TACF’s 2000 William Kilbourn Award for the Celebration of Toronto’s Cultural Life: a $5,000 cash prize presented to an individual whose work is a celebration of life through the arts in Toronto.

Rina Singha is an ideal example of the innovation, diversity and originality that the TAC constantly strives to invest in, and it is efforts like hers which make Toronto the creative city that it is.

- Amy Farrer, TACF Intern

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