Lata Pada

Lata Pada (ಲತಾ ಪಾದ)
Lata
Born
Lata

(1947-11-07) 7 November 1947
Bombay, India
CitizenshipCanadian
EducationLearnt under master teachers Kalaimamani Kalyanasundaram, and Padmabhushan Kalanidhi Narayanan.
Alma materElphinstone College in Mumbai
Occupation(s)Dancer, Choreographer, Teacher and Author
Known forBharatanatyam
Spouse(s)Vishnu pada, Hari Ventakacharya
Awards
Websitewww.sampradaya.ca

Lata Pada,[1] (ಲತಾ ಪಾದ) CM (born 7 November 1947[2]) is an Indian-born Canadian choreographer and Bharatanatyam dancer. Pada is the founder and artistic director of Sampradaya Dance Creations, a dance company that performs Indian dance. She is also the founder and director of Sampradaya Dance Academy, a leading professional dance training institution that is the only Indian dance school in North America affiliated with the prestigious, UK-based Imperial Society for Teachers of Dancing.[3][4] Pada 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.[5][6] Pada is known as an influential figure in Indian style dance in Canada.[7]

Early life and dance career

Born on 7 November 1947, Lata was the eldest of four children in a well-educated family.[8] Her father was an electrical engineer in the Royal Navy, and her mother eventually had a career in insurance management.

At the tender age 13, Lata gave her solo debut recital known as the 'Arangetram'. Lata, who attended Elphinstone College in Mumbai,[9] gave up her studies in science to pursue Indian dance, and trained under the gurus Kalaimamani Kalyanasundaram and Padmabhushan Kalanidhi Narayanan.[7]

Pada married geologist Vishnu Pada (ವಿಷ್ಣು ಪಾದ) on 30 October 1964, when she was 17 years old. Marriage took place in Canada. Vishnu was graduated from McGill University in geology; when he came to India he saw Lata and the marriage negotiations were done.[10] After coming to Thompson, Manitoba, Canada, where husband worked for Inco, she became a member of a sorority, and was able to combine her domestic duties with a social life and her artistic vocation. She and Vishnu were the first Indian family in the mining town.

Career in Bharata natyam

Lata pada's career as a soloist began in 1965, the year after she immigrated to Canada. At this time, her work was largely traditional. However, when she lived in Indonesia for several years, Lata Pada became interested in cross-cultural collaboration and opened up her choreography to other influences. In 1979, she returned to Canada. Pada's solo dances featured bharata natyam in a traditional form and in a more contemporary style. In 1990, Pada founded Sampradaya Dance Creations in Toronto, Ontario, and Sampradaya Dance Academy in nearby Mississauga. Sampradaya Dance Creations presents a range of solo and ensemble choreography in both a classical and contemporary repertoire. The company is also engaged in education and community outreach.

Among the dance productions of Lata Pada on various themes, two productions highlighting women and identity are praiseworthy:

  • 'Triveni', which relates Sita, Draupadi and Ahalya to generations of invisible, often silent, women, ever since.
  • 'Sohrab: Mirage' (Sohrab, a Dari word, means mirage), that dwells on the experiences of Afghan women under the Taliban regime.

Personal life

Lata and her husband, Vishnu Pada moved first to Indonesia before settling in Sudbury, Ontario, nearly 40 years ago. She devoted her life in looking after her husband, two daughters, and teaching dance. She was visiting India almost every year to train with her dance guru. In 1985 Lata Pada and her family decided to take an extended vacation to India.[11] She travelled ahead of her family so that she could practice for a scheduled performance in Bangalore, and across India. Lata was in Mumbai rehearsing for her tour, while her husband and daughters stayed behind in Sudbury, Ontario because Brinda was graduating from high school.[12] On 23 June, her husband and two daughters Arti and Brinda, who were due to join her, were on the Delhi-bound Air India flight 182 that crashed off the coast of Ireland.[13] [14][15][4]

Numbed with grief, she instinctively turned to her only remaining anchor, dance. On the larger canvas of universal grief, the two personal questions that ring through 'Revealed by Fire' are: "If you take away my husband, am I still a wife? If you take away my children, am I still a-mother."[16][17]

Lata Pada became a spokesperson for the families of the victims.[18] Lata Pada expressed disappointment in the Canadian government's investigation of the Air India incident.[19]

Pada received a master's degree in fine arts from York University in 1997.[20] [21]

[22] In September 2000,[23][24] Lata Pada remarried Hari Venkatacharya who was later arrested for fraud in 2013.[25]

Pada lives in Mississauga, near Toronto, Ontario.[13]

Awards, accolades

  • In December 2008, Lata pada was made a Member of the Order of Canada for her contributions to the development of Bharatanatyam as a choreographer, teacher, dancer and artistic director, as well as for her commitment and support of the Indian community in Canada.[26] Lata was also recently appointed as adjunct professor in the Graduate Faculty of Dance, York University, Toronto.
  • She was one of the interview subjects of the documentary Air India 182.[27] She was also interviewed for the Mayday episode on AI182.[28]
  • On 9 January 2011, Pada was conferred the Pravasi Bharatiya Samman Award, by the President of India. This award, instituted by the Government of India in 2003, recognizes outstanding contributions by overseas Indians in the diaspora.
  • Lata was awarded the Pravasi Bharatiya Samman Award for her exemplary contributions in the field of dance, as well as for her unrelenting efforts in seeking a public inquiry into the 1985 bombing of Air India flight 182.
  • Pada is the first performing artist to be given this prestigious honour in Canada.,[29][30]
  • On 18 June 2012, Pada was awarded the Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal, for her outstanding contributions in promoting South Asian dance in Canada.[31]

See also

References

  1. ^ Nartaki, Interview, May, 2001, Lata Pada - Choreographer
  2. ^ "Biography". Retrieved 11 February 2009.
  3. ^ Walker, Susan. "Call it South Asian dance HQ." The Toronto Star. 30 May 2008.
  4. ^ a b Kopun, Francine. "When the only thing left is hope." The Toronto Star. 25 August 2007.
  5. ^ "“B2” a collaboration between Sampradaya Dance Creations and Ballet Jorgen Archived 20 May 2020 at the Wayback Machine." Harbourfront Centre. Retrieved on 10 December 2008.
  6. ^ " Sampradaya Dance Creations Archived 4 March 2012 at the Wayback Machine." Canada Council for the Arts. Retrieved on 10 December 2008.
  7. ^ a b "Daring and innovative." The Telegraph. Retrieved on 10 December 2008.
  8. ^ "Resource guide, By dance reborn-By Keith Garebian". Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 16 August 2015.
  9. ^ "P-196 Archived 16 August 2016 at the Wayback Machine." Air India Commission, Government of Canada. 17 September 2007. Retrieved on 24 June 2009.
  10. ^ Radhika, V. "Dancing To Transform Archived 31 January 2010 at the Wayback Machine." Boloji. 4 December 2004.
  11. ^ "Explosive Evidence." Mayday.
  12. ^ "The Kanishka Bombing, 20 years on Lest we forget." The Sunday Times. Sunday 10 July 2005.
  13. ^ a b Curry, Bill (9 May 2007). "Air India bombing could have been prevented". The Globe and Mail. Retrieved 9 January 2024.
  14. ^ Bowden, Olivia (8 February 2020). "They lost family in the Air India bombing. Now they're grieving for Iranian-Canadians - National | Globalnews.ca". Global News. Retrieved 9 January 2024.
  15. ^ Kelly, Deirdre (26 May 2007). "How Lata Pada rose above Air India pain". The Globe and Mail. Retrieved 9 January 2024.
  16. ^ "'If you take away my children, am I still a-mother'". Archived from the original on 8 December 2017. Retrieved 17 August 2015.
  17. ^ Mahesh, Chitra. "A voyage of discovery." The Hindu. Friday 5 December 2003.
  18. ^ "Ottawa asks Rae to head Air India inquiry." CBC News. Wednesday 23 November 2005.
  19. ^ Struck, Doug. "For Canada's Police Agencies, 'A Multidimensional Failure'." The Toronto Star. Friday 18 March 2005. A20.
  20. ^ Davida, Dena (1 October 2011). Fields in Motion: Ethnography in the Worlds of Dance. Wilfrid Laurier Univ. Press. ISBN 978-1-55458-377-5.
  21. ^ Carlyle, Cathy. "Michael Stevenson responds." York University Gazette. Wednesday 24 May 2000. Volume 30, Number 32.
  22. ^ "To Transform'-by V.Radhika Aug,17, 22015". Archived from the original on 8 December 2017. Retrieved 17 August 2015.
  23. ^ "Interview - Lata Pada". narthaki.com. Retrieved 24 November 2021.
  24. ^ Chandaraju, Aruna (21 December 2008). "A picture of grace". Bangalore Mirror. Retrieved 24 November 2021.
  25. ^ "Man Arrested at Pearson Airport in Connection with Long-Standing Fraud". insauga | Local Online News. 13 November 2018. Retrieved 24 November 2021.
  26. ^ "Governor General Announces New Appointments to the Order of Canada". 30 December 2008. Archived from the original on 21 January 2009. Retrieved 1 January 2009.
  27. ^ "Air India 182 Press Kit" (Archive). Air India 182 (film) official website. p. 10/12. Retrieved on 22 October 2014.
  28. ^ "Air Crash Investigation" Explosive Evidence (TV Episode 2008). Retrieved 12 July 2024 – via m.imdb.com.
  29. ^ New yorku, ' It's a first: South Asian Lata Pada artist receives the Order of Canada published 1 May 2009'
  30. ^ Pravasi Bharatiya Samman
  31. ^ "ZOOMERTV, Lata Pada Awarded Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal, 27 June 2012". Archived from the original on 21 May 2022. Retrieved 16 August 2015.
  32. ^ "'The biography of Lata pada, and her YouTube', The younger days pics are documented". Archived from the original on 25 November 2020. Retrieved 17 August 2015.

Further reading

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