Harikishan Nair (AJ DreamZ)

Harikishan Nair (AJ DreamZ)

Role in the Production – director

Hari is the Founder and Artistic Director of Regatta Kala Kendra. He is active in the community as a dancer, theatre artist, teacher, choreographer, mentor, dramaturge and rehearsal director.  He is a passionate and critical advocate for equity within the dance sector for practitioners of South Asian dance and a community leader in articulating issues on how these performance aesthetics interface with established institutions of dominant dance presenting/curation in Canada.

Born and raised in Kerala (India), he has been dancing since age 3 and is fluently trained in Bharatanatyam, Mohiniyattam and Kuchipudi. He tours new choreographic works and conducts teaching workshops and master classes extensively across North America. He has gone on to collaborate, perform, and present his work at numerous dance festivals in India, the UK, Canada, and the USA. He is the Co-Founder of Atam Arts Collective, a Malayalam theatre group based in Toronto, Co-Director of SADAC – South Asian Dance Alliance of Canada, and also the Associate Artistic Director of ĀNANDAṀ Dance theatre.

Harikishan has been generously supported by the Metcalf Foundation, the Canada Council for the Arts, the Toronto Arts Council, and the Ontario Arts Council to continue building his artistic practice and skills as a leader and maker in this sector.