Rachana Joshi (she/her)

Company Dancer

Rachana Joshi is an emerging dance artist based in the GTA. After fourteen years of training, she completed her Bharatanatyam arangetram under the tutelage of Lata Pada in 2017. Rachana is currently a company dancer and teacher with Sampradaya Dance Creations and Academy. In 2019, she graduated from York University's B.F.A program in Dance with honors and received training in Limon and Graham modern techniques through the program. With the support of the Ontario Arts Council’s Skills and Career Development grant, Rachana was able to broaden her professional career with the guidance of Nova Bhattacharya, and she is now a company dancer with Nova Dance. She also had the opportunity to work as Bhattacharya’s Staging Assistant for Citadel + Compagnie’s production of Red & Yellow in 2019 and participated in Ukai Project’s Migration Online Residency in 2020 on behalf of the company. In 2021, Rachana was selected to take part in Peggy Baker Dance Project’s ACTION LAB online, and was fortunate to receive choreographic mentorship from Peggy Baker to develop and explore her creative practice during the pandemic. Rachana is currently focused on broadening her choreographic skills by creating her own dance works and building multidisciplinary artistic collaborations for the future. Aside from Bharatanatyam, she is trained in various movement disciplines such as kallari, hip hop, bollywood, improvisation techniques and contemporary dance. Rachana joined the Citadel + Compagnie team in 2021 and currently acts as the Box Office and Outreach Manager for the company.

Birthplace: Mississauga, Ontario

Training: Bharatanatyam (Tanjavur style), Limon, Graham, Jazz, Tap, Ballet, Hip-hop, Acro

For Nova Dance: Svāhā!, Migrations, New Monuments, Reconnections;Body/Heart/Mind

DANCE FIRST – At Nova Dance, I am fortunate to take on many roles – as a company dancer, on the admin team, and social media among others. These roles may seem worlds apart, but they all center what I am most passionate about: dance. At Nova Dance it’s always dance first!