Nova Dance Company

At Nova Dance we strive to embody kindness, compassion, and generosity. Dedicated to bridging cultures and communities through the power of dance; we embrace diversity as creative inspiration and explore the potential for harmony through movement. We gather with artists and audiences to create a community that celebrates the necessity for art in everyone’s life. 

Over the last 15 years the company has established itself as one of the leading forces in the evolution of Canadian contemporary dance. Led by Founding Artistic Director Nova Bhattacharya, Nova Dance’s genre-defying, barrier-breaking programming expands the cultural space for a breathtaking multiplicity of movement and storytelling art forms. Created in collaboration with esteemed and emerging, national, and international composers, choreographers, dancers and visual designers, the body of work ranges from intimate solos to large-scale extravaganza, transporting audiences to places of wonderment, joy, and quiet contemplation. Nova Dance is a diversiform company, our current collaborators have backgrounds in ballet, bharatnatyam, Bollywood, burlesque, butoh, Casino Rueda, dance hall, dances of
the Caribbean diaspora, contemporary, Graham, hip-hop (commercial and fundamentals), Horton, jazz, kathak, kuchipudi, Limon, mohiniattam, odissi, and street dance; Carnatic, Hindustani and western classical music; mental health care; neurology; painting and sculpture.

Dedicated to creating meaningful points of intersection for audiences as well as nurturing inter generational artists, our programming includes Discover Dance – an ongoing, live, and online series sharing a behind the scenes glimpse into the creative world of choreographers; The Deep End Week – an annual professional development intensive; ongoing mentoring of artists; compassion funding for caregivers; and free programming for all ages.

At Nova Dance we believe that dance can transform, invigorate, and soothe the psyche and we invite everyone to embrace the visceral experience it offers.
Full-time staff: Nova Bhattacharya, Artistic Director
Part-time staff: 
Alysha Addetia, Marketing Development Associate
Nidhi Baadkar, Intern
Ariane Burtin, Bookeeping & Administration
Rajvi Dedhia, Intern
Ed Hanley, Composer in Residence
Neena Jayarajan, Associate Artist
Rachana Joshi, Company Dancer
Shivani Joshi, Writer in Residence
Kiruthika Rathanaswami, Associate Artist
Rachel Robbins, Management Associate
Sukruti Tirupattur, Associate Artist
Purawai Vyas, Company Dancer