TEACHING STAFF
Jai Govinda
Arno Kamolika
Aishwarya Roshan
Kiruthika Rathanaswami
Arno Kamolika was initially trained in bharata anatyam under Professor C. V. Chandrasekhar and Belayet Hossain and in Manipuri under Sharmila Banerjee, Tamanna Rahman and Kalavati Devi. Upon moving to Vancouver she joined the Academy and completed her graduation under Jai Govinda in 2011. Under Mandala she has also taken master classes and workshops with Smt. Bragha Bessel, Priyadarshini Govind, Savitha Shastry and has also taken other master classes with esteemed artists including Leela Samson, Madhvi Mudgal, Parshwanath Upadhyay, Partha Pratim Majumder. An architecture graduate, Arno has given many performance as a soloist and in group productions such as Tagore’s Shyama- a bharatanatyam interpretation, Discover Dance, UBC president’s installation ceremony, Dancer’s Transit Resource Centre, Embodied Practice at SFU and Diwali Celebrations and has travelled to different festivals in LA, Germany, India and Bangladesh. She is the recipient of various grants and awards including BC Arts project assistance grant in 2017. Arno has been teaching at the Academy since 2014.
Aishwarya Roshan graduated from the Jai Govinda Dance Academy in 2014. She has since performed at a variety of events as a soloist and in group productions. Amongst them, she was the opened and closed the event performances for the “Namaste Canada” 2016 and 2017, an event organized by the Consulate General of India. In 2016, she was a headlining performer for New Works’ Dance Allsorts. In 2018, Aishwarya curated and presented a 2-hour bharata natyam solo dance recital choreographed by Jai Govinda titled, “Satya": The Ultimate Reality” at the Shadbolt Centre for the Arts. The sold out performance was a major success. She has attended workshops and master classes with Mandala guest artists such as Smt. Bragha Bessell. Aishwarya continues developing her repertoire of choreographies under Jai Govinda. She has just recently joined the teaching staff of the Academy.
Kiruthika Rathanaswami is a Vancouver based bharata natyam dance artist and instructor. For the past 26 years, she has been under the mentorship and guidance of Jai Govinda, Artistic Director of Mandala Arts and Culture Society in Vancouver. She completed her bharata natyam arangetram (graduation) at the Jai Govinda Dance Academy in 2004 and since then has been a part of many of Mandala's professional productions and presentations as a soloist, and ensemble. Kiruthika has performed in Canada and the United States at notable festivals such as Canada Dance Festival, Gait to the Spirit Festival, Horizon Series, Feats Festival, HH11 Dance Festival, Nextfest, Baltimore Dance Invitational, New Works, Discover Dance Noon Series, Solo: A Festival
of Dance and Expanse Festival to many a few. Kiruthika is the recipient of the 2012 City of Vancouver & The Mayor's Arts Award for emerging artist in Dance and the 2016 Dancing Damsel Women Achiever Award for
the Performing Arts.