Menaka Thakkar
Born(1942-03-03)3 March 1942
Mumbai, India
Died5 February 2022(2022-02-05) (aged 79)
Occupation(s)Dancer
Choreographer
Instructor
Career
Current groupMenaka Thakkar Dance Company

Menaka Thakkar (March 3, 1942 - February 5, 2022) [1] was an Indo-Canadian dancer, choreographer, and teacher who specialized in Indian classical dance. Based in Toronto, Ontario, Thakkar taught and performed across Canada and around the world. She was awarded Canada's Governor General's Performing Arts Award for Lifetime Artistic Achievement in 2013. In 2019 she was inducted into Dance Collection Danse's Dance Hall of Fame.

Early life and education

Thakkar was born in Mumbai, India, on March 3, 1942.[2] In Mumbai, Madras, and Cuttack, she completed training in Indian classical dance (including Bharatanatyam, Odissi, and Kuchipudi styles).[2] She earned an undergraduate degree in visual arts in 1963.[2]

Thakkar performed as a soloist in India.[3] She travelled to Canada in 1972 to visit her brother and to perform.[2] She decided to settle in the country the following year,[2] joining her brother and sister in Toronto.[4]

Career

Teaching

Thakkar founded Nrtyakala: The Canadian Academy of Indian Dance in Toronto in 1974.[2][5] For a decade, she taught dance intensives across Canada.[2] She also taught a course in Indian dance as an adjunct professor at York University in Toronto.[2][3] Thakkar was credited in the Ottawa Citizen for "singlehandedly craft[ing] a whole generation of South Asian dancers in Canada".[4]

Performance and choreography

In 1984, Thakkar founded the Menaka Thakkar Dance Company, based in Toronto.[2] As a dancer and choreographer, she has toured North America and internationally.[6] One early piece, a solo interpretation of the poem Gita Govinda, earned positive critical reviews in Canadian media when it debuted in the 1970s.[7][8] She performed the piece for over 25 years.[9]

She has also experimented with novel interpretations of Indian dance traditional styles.[10] For East Meets West, she collaborated with choreographer Robert Desrosiers to blend traditional Indian and Western dance styles.[6]

Awards and honours

Thakkar earned an honorary Doctor of Letters degree from York University in 1993.[2]

In 2012, Thakkar won the Canada Council Walter Carsen Prize for Excellence in the Performing Arts.[11] In 2013, she was awarded the Governor General's Performing Arts Award for Lifetime Artistic Achievement in Dance.[2]

References

  1. ↑ Gupta, Dhriti. "In Tribute: Menaka Thakkar". The Dance Current. Retrieved 10 May 2022.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 Crabb, Michael (25 December 2012). "Menaka Thakkar". The Canadian Encyclopedia. Retrieved 18 May 2020.
  3. 1 2 Miliokas, Nick (25 May 2006). "Thakkar's work explores creation and destruction". The Leader-Post. p. 25. Retrieved 18 May 2020.
  4. 1 2 Rowe, Andrea (8 February 2001). "A lifetime of dance". The Ottawa Citizen. p. 64. Retrieved 18 May 2020.
  5. ↑ Mortin, Jenni (14 October 1993). "Indian dancer bridges two cultures". Star-Phoenix. p. 12. Retrieved 26 May 2020.
  6. 1 2 Pilon, Bernard (25 October 1993). "The dance of a lifetime". The Leader-Post. p. 28. Retrieved 18 May 2020.
  7. ↑ Lyon, George W. (12 May 1979). "Thakkar dance brings to life erotic spirituality of a poem". Calgary Herald. p. 52. Retrieved 18 May 2020.
  8. ↑ Francis, Ruth (26 May 1976). "Sensitive portrayal by dancer". The Ottawa Journal. p. 70. Retrieved 18 May 2020.
  9. ↑ "Dance | Today". The Vancouver Sun. 16 May 2009. p. 70. Retrieved 18 May 2020.
  10. ↑ Crabb, Michael (27 January 2009). "A traditional art form upended". National Post. p. 19. Retrieved 18 May 2020.
  11. ↑ "Indian dancer captures $30,000 prize". Times Colonist. 1 September 2012. p. 21. Retrieved 18 May 2020.
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