Menaka Thakker

🪔 About

Menaka Thakkar (March 3, 1942 – February 5, 2022) was an internationally renowned Indo-Canadian dancer, choreographer, teacher, and institution builder who significantly shaped Indian classical dance in Canada for over 40 years. Born in Bombay, India, she began her dance training in Bharatanatyam at the age of four. By her mid-twenties, she had also achieved proficiency in Odissi and Kuchipudi, training with esteemed gurus in Mumbai, Madras, and Cuttack. After earning a BA in visual arts in 1963, she embarked on a performing career as a soloist in India. Thakkar immigrated to Canada in 1972, following a successful Canadian tour, and quickly became one of the first artists to introduce classical Indian dance to Canadian audiences. In 1974, she founded Nrtyakala: The Canadian Academy of Indian Dance in Toronto, with the aim of providing training and fostering awareness of Indian arts and culture. Four years later, in 1978, she established the Menaka Thakkar Dance Company (MTDC), which toured internationally to cities including Houston, Tokyo, London, and across Canada, the United States, India, Singapore, and Japan. Known for her feminist, experimental, and traditionally informed choreography, Thakkar often drew inspiration from Indian poets like Rabindranath Tagore. She was a pioneer in cross-cultural collaborations, working with Western dance artists such as Grant Strate, Robert Desrosiers, and Claudia Moore, resulting in innovative works like "Duality" (1997) and "Land of Cards" (2000). Beyond performing and choreographing, Thakkar was a dedicated educator, teaching intensively across Canada for a decade, serving as an adjunct professor of dance at York University, and periodically teaching at the National Ballet School. Her academy, Nrtyakala, has trained thousands of students, with over 150 graduates completing their junior and senior arangetrams. She was credited with single-handedly crafting a generation of South Asian dancers in Canada. Awards & Honours: Singar Mani Award (Bharatanatyam) (1968), Singar Mani Award (Odissi) (1970), Dora Mavor Moore Award nomination, Honorary Doctor of Letters (1993), Tri-National Creative Residency Award, City of Toronto Face the Arts Cultural Maverick Award for Dance (2006), Toronto Arts Award for Performing Arts, President's Award, India Abroad magazine's "Power List" (2008), Walter Carsen Prize for Excellence in the Performing Arts (2012), Governor General's Performing Arts Award for Lifetime Artistic Achievement (Dance) (2013), Inducted into Dance Collection Danse Hall of Fame (2019).