Hari Krishnan

Hari Krishnan is an internationally respected dancer, choreographer, teacher and dance scholar. He specializes in devadasi dance &contemporary abstractions of Bharatanatyam. He has trained with hereditary dance masters including K.P. Kittappa Pillai &R. Muttukkannammal. Born in Singapore, Hari Krishnan has been living in North America for 20 years now where he has established himself as one of the most prolific Indian classical and contemporary artists of his generation.

Hari Krishnan is Artistic Director of Toronto-based company inDANCE. Established in 1999, inDANCE is one of Canada’s most progressive dance companies. It presents works that are a unique synthesis of artistic director Hari Krishnan’s South Asian and Western aesthetic sensibilities. It’s aims are twofold. The first is to produce work that is bold, provocative and adventurous. The second is to present exponents and scholars committed to the practice of specific social and historical contexts of South Indian dance. The company creates inventive, stimulating works that challenge dominant discourses about culture. 

Hari Krishnan’s experimental and vintage works have been presented at international venues including St. Mark's Danspace, Columbia University, Joyce SoHo, Battery Park Downtown Dance Festival (New York City); The Smithsonian Institute, Lincoln Theater, Dance Place(Washington DC); Rice University (Houston); University of Minnesota, Southern Theatre (Minneapolis); St. Lawrence University (Canton, New York); Mount Holyoke College, Peabody Essex Museum (Massachusetts), Wesleyan University (Connecticut); Canadian Museum of Civilization (Hull); McGill University, Tangente (Montreal); Canada Dance Festival, Arts Court, Carleton University (Ottawa); Kalanidhi Dance Festival, Can-Asian International Dance Festival, DanceWorks, Harbourfront Centre, Music Garden, Textile Museum of Toronto, Royal Ontario Museum, Dance Ontario, Guelph Contemporary Dance Festival, York University, World Dance Alliance (Ontario); The Singapore International Festival of Arts; Sutra Dance Theatre (Malaysia) and The Alliance Francaise,  Krishna Gana Sabha, The Music Academy, Sundara Mahal, Chandra Mandapa/Spaces, The Other Festival (India) and The Royal Opera House, Luton Fringe Festival, The Hat  Factory, Interchange Studios (UK).

Hari Krishnan is also a professor of dance at the Department of Dance in Wesleyan University (Connecticut). Krishnan is regularly invited to choreograph and teach in Canada, USA, India andthe UK. He holds a Master's degree in Dance from York University (Toronto) andis currently completing his PhD in the dance department at Texas Woman’s University.  Krishnan's research areas include colonialism, post-colonialism &Indian dance, globalization &the arts of India, Bharatanatyam in Tamil cinema &the history of devadasi dance traditions in Tamilnadu and Andhra Pradesh, South India. He is regularly sought after as a teacher, choreographer and contributor to academic conferences on cultural history and dance in Canada, the United States, UK and India.