DANCE BRIDGES: THE TEAM
LEADERSHIP TEAM
Founder Director: Vanessa Maria Mirza
Vanessa Maria Mirza is a London based contemporary dance/visual artist and curator. She is the Founder-Director of Dance Bridges (Kolkata, India), an international contemporary dance festival with residencies, workshops, artist talks and regular classes. Vanessa regularly represents the festival in platforms in such as Aerowaves, Lyon Biennale de la Danse, CINARS, American Dance Abroad and TPAM among others. She has curated events for Kala Ghoda Arts Festival (Mumbai) and the Kolkata Centre for Creativity (Kolkata) as well as done consultations for arts organisations such as Chaitown Community (USA/India).
She was selected to Artistic Directors of the Future’s award-winning board shadowing programming, engaging with boards from Dance Umbrella & Without Walls (March-November 2022). In November 2024 she attended Dance in Vancouver as part of an artist/curatorial development programme supported by FABRIC and Dance Umbrella. She has been a Trustee on the Board of Siobhan Davies Studios since August 2023.
She has completed an MA, Arts Policy & Management program with distinction at Birkbeck, University of London (2021-2022) and is the runner up of the Lorraine Lim Award. Vanessa did a producing placement at LIFT working towards their summer festival (February-July 2022) as part of her research. She is an ATSA (ARThink South Asia) Fellow for 2018-2019. She studied contemporary dance at Taipei National University of the Arts and business at St. Xavier’s College (Kolkata). She is the Artistic Director of Vanessa Mirza Creations through which she presents her painting and choreography internationally. In April 2024 she secured the Global Talent Visa (Exceptional Talent- Combined Arts) and has made London her main base for work.
Vanessa is a full-time Lecturer in Business at London School of Science and Technology (LSST, Stratford). She has recently been appointed at Personal Academic Tutor (PAT) Coordinator for the Stratford campus. She is also now the Module Leader for Developing Professional Skills- Ravensbourne University across campuses for LSST. She is currently pursuing a PG Certificate in Learning and Teaching for Higher Education at University of London.
International Advisory Board:
Meera Krishnan
Meera Krishnan works with Prakriti Foundation as their Senior Programme Coordinator. Prakriti is a leading art and cultural foundation in India which conducts festivals, cultural and literary events, and mentorship programs. As a senior coordinator, her role includes proposing and drawing project proposals, coordinating eight major festivals and managing digital and non-digital media communication. She has also been responsible for coordinating collaborative events with international agencies like British Council, Alliance Française, Goethe Institute and INKO. Some of her notable projects include a six-city tour of Akram Khan Dance Company’s Gnosis (2012) in collaboration with British Council and Torobaka (2015) in collaboration with British Council and Embassy of Spain. She holds a postgraduate degree in Mathematics and a Diploma in Arts Management from DakshinaChitra.
Suman Sarawgi
Suman Sarawgi is a professional Manipuri dancer trained in under Priti Patel and Shruti Banerjee in Kolkata. She further pursued her dance education in Imphal under Ojha Th. BabuSingh, W. Lokendrajit Singh and A. LaxmiDevi. She has performed in various prestigious festivals in India such as the Uday Shanker Festival, Kajuraho Dance Festival, Soorya Festival, Murshidabad Festival. She has also performed internationally in Germany, Hong Kong, Cambodia, Vietnam and Australia. She has choreographed and taught dance at The Oral School for Deaf, Kolkata, Kolkata Sanved and Modern High School. Currently she is the Secretary of Dance Alliance Kolkata, Co-Director for the Short +Sweet Theatre Festival, Director of Sparsh Studio for Performing Arts & the Creator of the Manipur dance production Leisem. Se is also the Co-Fonder/Director of The Doodle Room, an art centre for children promoting the performing and visual arts in Kolkata.
Urmimala Sarkar
Urmimala Sarkar Munsi is an Associate Professor of Theatre and Performance Studies at the School of Arts and Aesthetics, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi, India. She is a Social Anthropologist, specialised in dance Studies. Beside her principle area of work on body, dance and Society, her research interest is in gender and performance, documentation of living traditions, and performance as politics. She is a choreographer and dancer trained at the Uday Shankar India Culture Centre. Her recent choreography Mohakabber Owpekkhay (Waiting for the Epic Poem) was commissioned by Bangladesh Shilpakala Academy in collaboration with Shadhona, Dhaka, and performed by dancers from Bangladesh at the Shilpakala Academy on the Independence Day of Bangladesh. Urmimala is currently the Vice President of World Dance Alliance – Asia Pacific, and the Network Co – Chair for World Dance Alliance, Research and Documentation.
Ximena Eleta De Sierra
Ximena is Co-Founder and Co-Director of PRISMA- International Contemporary Dance Festival of Panama and President since 2006 of the Board of Directors of Fundacion Gramo Dance, which manages CIA Gramo Dance (an aerial dance company fusing aerial technique with contemporary dance), runs XIELO a dance studio dedicated to teaching aerial dance, carries out social outreach dance project for at-risk youth, DANZAREA; and organises dance tours to the countryside ( GramoGira), among other dance related events. Ximena holds a BS in Japanese from Georgetown University’s School of Language and Linguistics, and a Master’s in Education ( Literature and Composition) from the University of Texas at Austin.
Production Team/Partners:
Senior Producer: Suman Sarawgi
Sparsh Studio for Performing Arts, Kolkata, India
Buoyant Performing Arts, Kolkata India
Business Development
Anu Sobti Sondhi
Saurabh Surekha
Supporting Partners
The Creative Arts Academy, Kolkata, India
Chaitown Community, Kolkata, India
Vanessa Mirza Creations, UK/India
Marketing, Design & Communications:
Mayur Doriel (Website Development)
