Gitanjali Kolonad

Artist

Gitanjali Kolanad, Artistic Associate for Across Oceans Arts, is researching creative processes of dance & performance-making. as writer, dramaturg & a AOA choreographic marathon mentor. Concurrently, she is an associate at Anandam & CanAsian Dance, and co-founder of IMPACT – Indian Martial & Performance Arts Collective of Toronto, which teaches the Indian martial art form of kalaripayat to at-risk youth in underserved neighbourhoods in Toronto. Her distinguished stage career of forty years involved in the practice, performance, and teaching of bharata natyam in major cities in Europe, America and India. Her performance of classical repertoire was praised by critics, while her contemporary choreography won new audiences for bharata natyam. Her work was often multi-disciplinary, arising out of collaborations with artists from other disciplines: director Phillip Zarrilli, video/installation artist Ray Langenbach, poet Judith Kroll, violinist Parmela Attariwala, to name a few. From 2013-17 she developed a performing arts program at Shiv Nadar University, Greater Noida, India. An established writer on dance and culture, she has written numerous articles on aspects of classical and contemporary performance for well-known Indian and international publications. Her book, Culture Shock: India, published by Marshall Cavendish, is now into its third edition, and has been translated into Korean. She was 2016 Singapore International Writer-in-Residence at the National University of Singapore and The Arts House. Her short story “The American Girl” won second prize in the 2008 CBC Literary Awards and was long-listed for the 2008 Frank O’Connor and her 2020 novel ‘Girl Made of Gold’ was shortlisted for Tata Novel of the Year award.