The Heart Of Maya Dance Theatre
Our Team
Kavitha Krishnan
Artistic Director and Resident Choreographer
Kavitha Krishnan, artistic director of Maya Dance Theatre (MDT) founded the company with Imran Manaff, creative producer/company manager and associate director, Juraimy Abu Bakar in 2007. She is also the co-founder and creative director of Apsara Asia Pte Ltd an arts education service provider to schools for the past 18 years. Kavitha represented Singapore in ASEAN Contemporary dance production, “Realizing Rama” and toured with the company from 2002 to 2007. In the past, as a Bharathanatyam (Classical Indian Dance) dance artist, Kavitha has performed extensively both locally and internationally
With a vast experience in Bharathanatyam and keen interest in contemporary dance, Kavitha brings a unique expression to MDT.
“Kavitha’s years of experience in Indian Classical Dance (Bharata Natyam) and in Asian dance forms and with her deep interest in modern contemporary works brings out a unique Asian contemporary dance style with innovation and creativity to her works for Maya Dance Theatre.” – Flying Inkpot, Singapore
Over the years, Kavitha has worked with different international collaborators and created inter-disciplinary/trans-cultural dance-theatre works with social consciousness. Her works with MDT bring awareness to topics such as, domestic sexual violence against women and children, and mental well-being. She has also toured the works to New York, Morocco, India, Europe and Asia.
In 2018, Kavitha founded Diverse Abilities Dance Collective (DADC) made up of performers with different abilities as a community unit of MDT. In 2021, DADC received support from sTart Up Fund (NAC) and has also worked with award winning choreographer Liz Lea from Australia with support from Asialink Arts (Australia) for their inaugural production, “Speaking with Hands” in 2019. Last year, DADC worked with producer and co-director Jeffrey Tan and No Strings Attached (Adelaide) for the digital project, SAME-SAME supported by Singapore International Foundation (SIF).
Trained also an Occupational Therapist, Kavitha was instrumental in the development of Dance Movement Therapy (DMT) modules for Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts (NAFA) and was an associate lecturer for the programme and for Diploma in Arts Management (2020).
Kavitha values dance as a medium for communication and building connections; she strongly believes in the notion, “Dance Heals”.
Imran Manaff
Creative Producer
Imran is the co-founder, managing director and creative producer of Maya Dance Theatre (MDT). Graduating with a Bachelor’s in Business Administration from University of Canberra, Australia and with a specialist diploma in Arts and Events Management from Temasek Polytechnic (TP), Imran has been instrumental in developing MDT. He has been a part-time lecturer at Republic Polytechnic (RP), teaching Art and Production Management and produced, ‘The cold that creeps in with a thousand cuts’ as an independent producer with dance artist Jereh Leung in-collaboration with Sun Phitthaya Phaefuang (Norway-Thailand). The work toured to Tanzmesse 2016 (Germany), Hong Kong Festival and Singapore on the same year. In 2019, he curated a photo exhibition, ‘+/-‘ as part of MDT’s international collaboration with IpTanz from Cologne, Germany for the production, “Puffing Bodies” that expounded the social topic, Body Image. In 2020, Imran debuted his solo photographic exhibition, Sky Lines and collaborated with dance artist, Eva Tey for a web-based digital production, “Behind Closed Doors”, which addressed loneliness among seniors living with families.
Imran is also the co-owner and founder of arts management company, Apsara Asia Pte Ltd. He creates his own music albums and deeply interested in social value of the arts.
Shahrin Johry
Dance Artist
Shahrin Johry, a recipient of National Arts Council Postgraduate Scholarship, graduated from Roehampton University, UK, with Master of Arts in Dance, Politics and Sociology in 2019. He holds a BA in Dance from the LASALLE College of the Arts, Singapore (2012). Shahrin is unique with various embodiments of cultures in his body that comes from Bharathanatyam, Javanese and Balinese dance as well as Western dance like Urban forms, Ballet and Contemporary dance. He has been the principal dancer/assistant choreographer in Maya Dance Theatre since 2007.
Through the company, he has worked with many choreographers and collaborators: Oliver Tapaga (USA/Burkina Faso), Janis Brenner (USA), Liz Lea (Australia), Rachel Arianne Ogle (Australia), Ruth Osborne (Australia), Eko Supriyanto (Indonesia), Rianto (Indonesia), Danang Pamungkas (Indonesia), Dr. Sun Ock Lee (Zen Dance founder, South Korea), Ajith Bhaskaran Das (Malaysia). He has also independently created several short works, and full-length productions performed locally and toured internationally: The Conference (2012 – 2016), Sweet Lips (2014), KA (2017), Re: Path (2018) for MDT’s 10th anniversary. He creates art that value interculturalism, hybridity, and addressing/commenting on social issues.
Shahrin constantly initiates cross-cultural works that explore the relationship between dance and society, and the body as a political statement.
Eva Tey
Dance Artist
Eva graduated with a First Class Honor, (BA) Degree in dance from Lasalle College of the Arts in May 2014. At Lasalle, Eva has had the privilege to work with international choreographers like, Ming Poon, Emilyn Claid, Loretta Livingston and Mari Gabriel. While still a student, she performed in several productions such as, dan:s Festival (2011,2012, 2013) ; LEAP 2012 (Frontier Danceland PULSE programme) ; Continuum -T.H.E dance company (2011,2012) ; Re:looking at Re:gina (2013). After graduating Eva worked as an independent artist for Solo International Performing Arts (Solo, Indonesia 2014), JB Arts Festival (Johore Bahru, Malaysia 2014) and M1 Open Stage (Singapore, 2014). Eva has constantly secured opportunities to work with local emerging choreographers including Foo Yun Ying, Bernice Lee, Shahrin Johry and Christina Chan. Her performance abilities have been widely spoken about positively by industry practitioners.
Eva has a strong interest in choreography and as a student has choreographed :’Reminisce’ (2012), ‘From this moment on’ (2012), ‘Interface’ (2013), ‘Siren Call’ (2014). ‘Haptics’ (2014) was her maiden creation after graduation.
Eva joined Maya Dance Theatre (MDT) as a dance artist from January 2015 and with her involvement in Maya, she has been learning Bharatanatyam under the guidance of resident choreographer of MDT, Kavitha Krishnan and trainers: Ajith Bhaskaran Dass (Malaysia) and Lakshmi Krishnan (Temple of Fine Arts, Singapore). As part of the community initiative of the company, Eva facilitates pre-school and special needs programmes with Kavitha and Shahrin.
Eva believes in the philosophy, “Dance to Connect ; Move to Heal”.
Subastian Tan
Dance Artist
Subastian is a graduate from Singapore Management University (SMU) with a degree in Social Sciences (Psychology). Since 2016, he has been a dancer at Maya Dance Theatre (MDT), performing for productions such as Anwesha: Beyond The Darkness and Pancha: Flowers Don’t Bloom All The Time which address social issues through dance theatre. Together with the company, Subastian has performed in Indonesia, Portugal, Hong Kong, South Korea and India.
He is also the programme supervisor of Diverse Abilities Dance Collective (DADC), a community initiative by MDT started in 2018 which provides a semi-professional platform for persons of all abilities. The team has since presented works locally and internationally, fostering empowerment and giving a voice to a diverse group of artists.
Subastian also brings together different young artists and dance makers from the Hip Hop culture through his own project, Kinesthesia, whereby he expounds the dancers connection with the space and each other and has produced independently digital series of the explorations since 2019.
Through his craft, Subastian aims to connect across cultures and abilities to reflect lived experiences and provide a safe space for conversation and introspection.
Associate Creatives with MDT
Jeremiah Choy
Dramaturg (Pancha Project)
Jeremiah Choy is a trained lawyer who went full-time into directing, acting, writing and choreography in 1997. Since 1988, he has performed and toured in many critically acclaimed productions with TheatreWorks. He was part of the Best Actor (Ensemble) in the Descendants of the Eunuch Admiral in the Cairo International Festival of Experimental Theatre in 1996.
Jeremiah directed various productions such as A Broadway Christmas Carol and Machine where he was nominated the best Director for the DBS Life! Theatre Awards in 2002. He also produced and co-directed Margaret Chan in Emily of Emerald Hill in Singapore Arts Festival 2010, and directed The Conference of the Birds for Singapore Arts Festival 2011. In addition, he directed and co-wrote DragonTales, which premiered in Manila in 2010. He helmed the Play Den Productions, a joint venture with the Arts House, which is a platform for Singapore works. He directed ChildAid in 2011 and will be directing ChildAid 2012 at the Marina Bay Sands Grand Theatre. He has been a resident Judge of the Singapore Youth Festival’s Drama Competition since 2000. He directed Selamat for Spotlight Singapore in Cape Town 2011 and Living Dreams for Spotlight Singapore in Bratislava and Prague 2012. He has just curated and wrote for this year’s NS45: Fathers and Sons and co-curated for four hubs Singapore Heritage Festival 2012: Jurong Point, Bugis, Century Square and 112 Katong.
He was part of the Singapore International festival of Arts (SIFA) organizing team 2015- 2017
Kailin Yong
Music Director for Pancha Project
Known to many as the Fiddler for Peace, Kailin believes firmly in the power of music and love to affect profound and positive changes in the world. He was trained in Austria at the Musikhochschule Wien and was the recipient of the Daniel Pearl Memorial Violin in 2004 for his efforts in building cultural bridges through music.
In 2013, Kailin returned to Singapore after spending twenty years living, traveling and playing in Europe and America. Since then, he has been actively sharing his gift as a music/artistic director and composer with various arts groups like Bayang Troupe, Checkpoint Theatre, DADC, Flamenco Sin Fronteras, Maya Dance Theatre, VSA and many more.
He is also the founding member of several pan-cultural musical groups including the Kailin Yong Peace Project, NuMundo, Qilin Group, Straits Ensemble, Lost Tribe Of Pulau Gypsy. Kailin currently teaches at Lasalle College of The Arts and also at his studio in Joo Chiat, known as the Joy Space.
He has created original score for a short work, “Gravitate” (2014) and for the web-based project, “Behind Closed Doors” (2020) for the company. He has also re-worked on the original music by late legendary music composer, Rahayu Supanggah for “Anwesha, beyond the darkness” (2016) with voice artist, Peni Cendrarini from Solo, Indonesia and Cello musician, Noella Yan from Melbourne, Australia.
Since 2014, Kailin helms the Pancha (means five), the 5-part Project of MDT as the Music Director of the series. Kailin has travelled to South Korea, India, New York and Indonesia with the company to perform at International Festivals over the years.
Lakshmi Krishnan
Bharathanatyam Trainer
Lakshmi Krishnan is a proud graduate of Temple of Fine Arts (TFA) in Bharata Natyam, having received her training and then graduating under the guidance of Shrimathi Kamakshi Jayaraman. A recipient of the Maha Guru Swami Sivananda award in 2003 for her dedication to the Arts, Lakshmi has not only performed but also contributed creatively to most of TFA’s dance productions in Singapore, Malaysia and India.
She trained in Nattuvangam in Coimbatore under Shrimathi Kamakshi Jayaraman for 4 years from 1999, culminating in her Arangetram in 2003, making her the first student of TFA International to have graduated in Nattuvangam. Lakshmi also received advanced training in Nattuvangam from Bhagavatula Seetarama Sharma of Chennai in 2009. Other than accompanying widely on the Nattuvangam in TFA-led productions and Arangetrams, Lakshmi was also invited to participate in the Esplanade Theatres’ 10th Anniversary celebrations in ‘En Anubhavam’, a program showcasing Singaporeans who have excelled in South Indian classical music and dance.
In May 2015 she was selected to participate in one of the opening performances organised by the Indian Heritage Board, as part of the unveiling of the new Indian Heritage Centre. The Bharata Natyam performance, ‘Natya Darpana’, was put together by veteran Singaporeans who have made their mark in the international scene and Lakshmi was on Nattuvangam as part of the live orchestra supporting the dancers.
Over the last 10 years, Lakshmi has channeled her creative spirit to the choreography of new dance pieces based on Vedic chants and hymns. Her creative exploration has also extended to new ways of using the Nattuvangam and the use of jathis. A firm believer in that ‘there is a dancer in everyone’, Lakshmi has conducted several well-received dance workshops on creative expression for not only dancers but also music students, women and corporates. These workshops have been conducted in Singapore, India and also at the World Dance Congress in Greece. She continues to explore ways on how dance can make a difference in the lives of her students, who range in age from 10 to 60. In her pursuit of this, she upgrades and enriches herself through attending workshops and master classes conducted by revered gurus.
Lakshmi is a business graduate from National University of Singapore and has been a full-time teacher at the Temple of Fine Arts since 2003. In 2020, Lakshmi was instrumental in creating TFA’s first digital work, dance film – Transcedence supported nu National Arts Council’s Digitalization Grant and the work received rave reviews.
Ajith Bhaskaran Dass
Bharathanatyam Trainer
Born in Malaysia and cultured under an impressive lineage of dance gurus in Malaysia and India; Ajith Bhaskaran Dass spurned a career in law to rank amongst the foremost classical dancers of the country. Ajith is a versatile performer, choreographer and the artistic director of his own dance company, Suvarna Fine Arts based in Johor Bahru, Malaysia. Ajith’s innovative creativity and exquisite interpretation of both Bharata Natyam and Odissi brings a refreshing new breath without sacrificing the essential classical purity of both.
Ajith has performed extensively all over South East Asia, India, USA, Canada and Europe, giving dance performances, lecture demonstrations and workshops. He has annually toured to USA to rave reviews and in July 2010 completed his 15th successful US tour.
Alberta Wileo
Lighting Designer
His design work began in 2002 for a Lasalle dance’s graduation show when he was still a student in Lasalle College of the Arts majoring in Technical Theatre Arts. Besides Lasalle’s productions, he has designed for many professional performing companies such as Arts Fission, Action Theatre, Singapore Repertory Theatre, Singapore Lyric Opera, Singapore Symphony Orchestra, Singapore Dance Theatre, HUM Theatre, Apsaras Arts, Frontier Danceland, Theatre works, Singapore Philharmonics Orchestra, GIGI arts of dance, Maya dance, New Opera Singapore, Esplanade Theatre on The Bay and many more.
Besides for professional performing companies, Albert also designed for various schools, churches, concerts and events companies in Singapore and Indonesia. He is the permanent lighting designer for Indonesian Arts Festival from 2003 to 2013 held at the Esplanade Theatre and 2015 at Victoria theatre which were supported by Indonesian Embassy in Singapore.
Albert is a sort after lighting designer for both traditional and contemporary dance productions and theatre works in Singapore. Over the years, he has carved out a niche for his fine quality of lighting design work with audience and collaborators alike.
Danang Pamungkas
Co-Choreographer / Dance Artist (Indonesia)
Born in Solo (Surakarta, Indonesia), Danang formally learned traditional art at High School for Traditional Art and graduated from the Indonesian Institute of the Arts, Surakarta (ISI). He also practiced traditional Javanese dance at the Mangkunegaran Palace of Surakarta, and today is one of the main dancers at the Palace.
Danang has in the past worked with the renowned Taiwanese Contemporary Dance Company, Cloud Gate Dance Company and the legendary artistic director, Lin Hwai Min for 4 years in Taiwan.
Since 2014, Danang has been working with MDT.
Dewi Galuh Sintosari
Dance Artist (Indonesia)
Fondly known as Galuh, she is a graduate from foreign language academy in Solo, Indonesia and Tamkang University Taipei, Taiwan Chinese Language. She started her dance learning journey at Mangkunegaran Palace Solo, Indonesia from 1999 and become a dancer with the palace dance troupe since then. She is also the co-founder and principal dancer for Dan’s Dance Studio Solo, Indonesia and manages the company with choreographer, Danang Pamungaks.
Galuh was a teacher for Indonesian Cultural Exhibition at National Taiwan University Science and Technology (NTUST ) Taipei, Taiwan 2009 – 2010.
Galuh collaborated with MDT for the first time for the production, Pancha installment 3, Flowers Don’t Bloom All the Time, a topic that focused on domestic violence and sexual abuse amongst women and children.
Ragha Raghavendran
Music Composer/Musician
Born and raised in Singapore, Raghavendran Rajasekaran, fondly called Ragha, is a composer, improviser, and performer. He plays the Indian Classical flute in both the North and South Indian Classical styles. His musical works are thought to be unique, culturally diverse and adaptable to any form of art settings.
Ragha pursued his musical dream at LaSalle College of the Arts Singapore and Graduated with a bachelor’s degree with Honours in Music (JazzPerformance) in 2015. Currently, Ragha is an Indian Classical Flute teacher at the Temple of Fine Arts Singapore, a creative collaborator-composer for music, dance and theatrical drama for arts institutes and companies in Singapore and globally.
Ragha collaborated with MDT to perform for the Citizen Initiated Festival in New York, USA to celebrate Singapore’s 50th Anniversary in 2015.
Peni Candrarini
Voice Artist/Composer
Peni Candra Rini is a composer, educator, and one of the few contemporary female vocalists to perform sindhen, a female soloist singing style in a gamelan ensemble. Founder and director of the Jagad Sentana Art Foundation, she is strongly committed to preserving and sharing the country’s musical traditions.
Peni has collaborated to create musical compositions for scoring movie, dance, theater, with renowned artists from inside and outside Indonesia, including the Kronos Quartet for the program Fifty For The Future (USA), late legendary music composer of Solo, Indonesia, Rahayu Supanggah (IND), Hiroshi Koike (Japan), Maya Dance Theater (SIN), Found Sound Nation, OneBeat Accelerator 2020, Onebeat fellows 2014.
She has performed in major festivals including Gaudeamus Muziek Week Podcast 2021, Solo Butoh 2019, Tedx Ubud 2019, Big Ears Festival 2019, Mapping Melbourne 2018, International Gamelan Festival 2018, Humbold Forum 2018, Holland Festival 2017, Europalia Festival 2017, Asia Topa 2017, Mascot SIPA 2016, Setouchi Triennial 2016, Cinars Biennale 2014, Oz Asia 2013, Womadelaide 2013, Harare International Festival of the Arts (2008, 2011, 2012), Asian Cultural Council grantee 2010-2015-2016. She is also a lecturer at the Indonesian Art Institute in Surakarta.
Alex Dea
Music Composer / One Sound Artist
Alex Dea was trained in Western classical music and received a Ph.D. in Ethnomusicology from Wesleyan University, with a specialty in Javanese gamelan music. He was a performer in La Monte Young’s experimental music group Theatre of Eternal Music.[1] Other mentors include prominent avant-garde composers Terry Riley and Robert Ashley. He has also studied the music of Africa and Japan – and studied raga with the Hindustani master, Pandit Pran Nath.
Dea recently works in the gamelan form. One of his gamelan compositions, In Pelog, is the result of his collaboration with Prof. Dr. Sumarsan, an Indonesian teaching at Wesleyan University.
Alex also is an international artists consultant for MDT, whereby he connects the company mainly with US and Indonesian based artists for collaborations.
Jeffrey Tan
Music Composer/Musician/Sound Engineer
Jeffrey Tan also known as THE FREY is a musician based in Singapore, having worked with notable artists such as Jun Sung Ahn, Courtney Conway, Syed Ahmad, Addy Cradle, Shabir and Kailin Yong.
He is also the music director and violinist of Flame Of The Forest, an eclectic world fusion music group, and produced their first album “Tree Of Life”.
In August 2020, Jeffrey did the sound design and audio production for the dance film “Stop And Smell The Roses” produced by Maya Dance Theatre and worked with DADC to create music for the programme, Body-in-Motion together with composer Raghavendran Rajasekaran, a digital feature of series of creative movements for seniors.
Vetrivelan Gunasegaran
Founder/ Writer (Nátya Vichára)
Vetrivelan Gunasegaran has undergone training in LA style Salsa and is currently learning Bharatanatyam over the last 5 years under the tutelage of Ms Lakshmi Krishnan, Temple of Fine Arts Singapore. He has also been exposed to different dance forms such as modern contemporary dance, Indian folk dance styles, Indian classical dance and more when he underwent training under Apsara Asia’s Young Talent Programme. Vetri has had opportunities to perform Salsa and Bharatanatyam in India for the Harvest Festival in 2012 and for a Deepam Celebrations in 2019. Vetrivelan has been active in the arts where he led the Salsa Team in Republic Polytechnic and he was the proud recipient of the Flame awards from 2008 – 2010 by CREATE Republic, he was the 2nd runner up in the Aceki Salsa Competition and the 10th Stardust Dancesport grandprix 2009. Vetri leads a teaching career in the Special needs sector and has been active in dance through performing, practice but has explored the different aspects of the Arts by being a freelance dance trainer under Apsara Asia and Arts administrator with Maya Dance Theatre. He also shares and writes about his various experiences with dance and the arts through his page, Nátya Vichára.
Board of Advisors for MDT:
- Jeremiah Choy
- Kavita Thulasidas (Chairperson)
- Kavitha Krishnan
- Imran Manaff
- Aishwarya Prithviraj