Tell us a bit about yourself and your background. 

I am a researcher, choreographer, and performance maker. I hold a Diploma in Performing Arts (Dance) from Hong Kong, an MA in Choreography from Leeds Beckett and I am now undertaking a PhD. As a lecturer, I have taught nationally and internationally in academic and artistic organizations. 

The lure of movement introduced me to the world of dance. As a student and a professional practitioner, I always admired the socially transformative power of the creative world. My creative identity is rooted in the multicultural artistic consciousness of India. I’ve had the opportunity to immerse myself in the practice and observation of Indian Kathak dance for more than seventeen years. 

At the same time, I also bring my expertise as a performer, teacher, and researcher-choreographer to the landscape of Jazz and Contemporary dance. I realized that my PhD should review the current pedagogy and practice of traditional and contemporary dance. It will propose strategic thinking in modes of training the artistic dancing body that will negotiate multi-cultural artistic challenges.

What does your PhD focus on? 

My PhD focuses on devising a dance pedagogic method for traditional and contemporary dancers by combining Kathak and Jazz dance techniques. As part of my research, I examined the different approaches to dance training and devising performances. It revealed that the training and performance processes in traditional dance have a rigid approach, which limits the extent to which practitioners can experiment.

The hybrid teaching method that develops through my research attempts to provide traditional and contemporary dancers with the freedom to experiment and explore strict traditional and established contemporary dance movements. The research is embedded in diverse and multicultural artistic practices. It emerges through the exploration of the movement rooted in various dance traditions. The method that comes from my research supports the dancers through new ways of thinking and devising ideas for choreographic creations.

Why is this topic so important? 

My research is informed by more than seventeen years of choreographic and performative experiences in international artistic collaborations in association with my wife Dr. Mitul Sengupta, and our Dance company Rhythmosaic. Though my research primarily explores hybrid creative movement strategies in the forms of choreography and pedagogy, the significance of this research topic spans much beyond that. It examines culture, tradition, philosophies, and values embedded in human understanding, and communications. 

My research examines the development of a hybrid dance pedagogic method that contributes to existing traditional and contemporary dance practice through new ways of thinking in training and choreographic philosophies. It is attempted by inviting exciting possibilities that engage multicultural artistic practices through creative collaborations. The topic is timely, as it reviews existing creative practices through an expanded and an imaginative lens that views creation as a collaborative decision.

What are your plans for when you complete your PhD? 

My artistic identity and engagements have allowed me to meet artists, dancers, and performers around the world. What I noticed in today's young talented artists, especially dancers/performers, is that they are in a perpetual dilemma with their confidence, belief, identity, and eventually existence.

After my PhD, I would like to interact with these young people to mentor them, and most importantly understand them and their problems. I hope that the creative methods I developed through the research will enable them to liberate themselves from their psychological inhibitions and help them live out their artistic dreams.