Pratibha Arts | Bageshree

Bageshree Vaze is the Artistic Director of Pratibha Arts, incorporated in 2011 in the province of Ontario, and registered as a charitable organization since 2015.

Pratibha Arts serves to enhance and advance the cultural fabric of Ontario and Canada through the production, education and performance of and about arts, particularly dance and music styles originating from South Asia. The organization’s vision is to promote a high standard as well as nurture current and future generations of artists in Ontario. ‘Pratibha’ means ‘creative intelligence’ in Sanskrit. Pratibha Arts’ activities enhance the collective artistic intelligence of Canadians.

The organization promotes the Arts by achieving the following objectives:

1) to educate and increase the public’s understanding and appreciation of the Arts by providing performances of an artistic nature in public places and by arranging and delivering educational seminars on topics relating to such artist performances.

2) to provide instructional seminars on topics relating to the performing and visual arts.

3) To produce performing arts festivals for the purposes of illustrating, educating and advancing the public’s understanding and appreciation of performing arts.

4) To ensure the continuation of the Arts by educating and developing artists through training and participation in performances, festivals, and related workshops.

In accordance with these objectives, the following is a detailed description of Pratibha Arts’ past, current and future activities:

Pratibha Arts has an annual season of productions and workshops, and partnerships with other dance and music organizations based in Toronto. It has three components of productions, performances and educational activities. Since 2011, Pratibha Arts has produced full-length works such as ‘Avatar (9),’ ‘Damaru/Mudra,’ ‘Paratopia,’ and ‘A Canadian Dream.’ In 2013, Pratibha Arts partnered with the Harbourfront Centre in co-producing its ‘Spectrum’ series, which consisted of culturally-diverse performances and hands-on workshops as part of the Harbourfront’s summer festival programming. In October 2013, Pratibha Arts produced and presented the entertainment for the University Health Network’s annual Diwali fundraising gala at the Carlu Hotel in Toronto, and all proceeds went towards the Toronto General Western Hospital Foundation’s efforts in Diabetes Research. (please see www.uhndiwaligala.ca). The production featured a cast of 15 dancers and musicians, and the theme for the evening was ‘Discovery of India.’ In August 2013, Pratibha Arts partnered with the organizations Besharam www.mybindi.com to produce the fundraising concert ‘Balika’ at Lula Lounge in Toronto, and all proceeds went towards Plan Canada’s ‘Because I am a Girl’ campaign.

In 2014, Pratibha Arts initiated a dancer training program with support from the Ontario Arts Council’s Aboriginally and Culturally Diverse Dance Training fund. The dancers of this program are groomed for professional careers and this initiative allows them to hone their performance skills for Pratibha Arts’ productions. This dancer training program was also conducted in 2016 and 2017 and was supported by the Ontario Arts Council.

Pratibha Arts regularly conducts educational outreach workshops with partners such as Small World Music, Theatre Direct, the CanAsian Dance Festival, and in various schools throughout the GTA.

In October 2016, Pratibha Arts partnered with Harbourfront Centre’s NextSteps Dance Season to produce ‘Sadhana,’ an emerging artists series that allowed performers in Bharatha Natyam, Kathak, Mridangam and Tabla to present their skills in front of a panel of esteemed artists including Professor Trichy Sankaran.

In 2017, Pratibha Arts partnered with Sampradaya Dance Creations in the creation and production of ‘A Canadian Dream,’ a project exploring Indo-Canadian dance and ice hockey culture.

In 2018, Pratibha Arts helped launch the Diasporic Dance Initiative, a new shares platform model for dance artists of color in Toronto.