Natasha Bakht
Montréal 45° 30' 11.46" N, 73° 34' 11.30" W Arts Dance Danse Person
Natasha Bakht is an Indian contemporary dancer and choreographer. She trained in bharata natyam under Menaka Thakkar for over 20 years, touring internationally with her company. For three seasons, she danced with the Shobana Jeyasingh Dance Company in London, England, renowned for its groundbreaking work in Indian contemporary dance. She has also worked with choreographers Yvonne Coutts, Joan Phillips, Wayne McGregor and Robert Desrosiers and has appeared in their works in a variety of festivals including several Kalanidhi Festivals and the Canada Dance Festival.
Natasha has collaborated with Montreal's Roger Sinha on three pieces. Her own choreography includes a group piece, Riaz, for the Menaka Thakkar Dance Company and four solos for herself entitled Dance If You Must, Appropriating Edges, Obiter Dictum and White Space. Obiter Dictum was nominated for a 2003 Dora Mavor Moore Award for Outstanding New Choreography.
In 2008, Natasha was the co-recipient of the K.M. Hunter Artists Award, which is presented to individual artists in Ontario who have begun to produce a body of work and are starting to make a significant mark in their field. Natasha has been described as "a brilliant diamond" (The Dance Current, 2005)… "all honed to the bone elegance and precision" (Vancouver Sun, 2004).