Sangeeta Raju is a dancer, choreographer, and arts educator based in Kjipuktuk, Halifax. From a young age, she has trained in the Indian Classical dance form of Odissi. She continues to nurture this craft through high-level training with renowned teachers Meghna Das and  Bijayini Satpathy. 

As an arts educator she seeks to define for herself and students what it means to practice a traditional dance form like Odissi in a contemporary context supported by holistic and science-backed approach to the body. It is this approach that she believes ensures the survival and continuation of endangered Indian performing arts traditions in the West. In addition to being on the faculty of Maritime Conservatory, Sangeeta is also an arts educator with PERFORM NS!

Through cross-cultural collaboration, Sangeeta hopes to emphasize the relationship and integrated knowledge systems common to diverse cultural practices and traditions. Her most recent collaboration with fiddle-player Japhy Sullivan entitled “Jyoti’s Tale”, funded by Arts Nova Scotia,  was praised by one audience member as being the “a perfect marriage of two cultures steeped in stories and the act of storytelling.” 

Sangeeta is excited for what the future holds as she continues to engage with and disseminate a practice rooted in tradition with contemporary inquiries.