Contributor
Samyuktha Punthambekar is a versatile Indian Classical dancer, arts educator and arts manager. She is trained in the Bharathanatyam dance form from the prestigious Kalakshetra Foundation in Chennai, India. Punthambekar has performed at prestigious festivals in India, U.A.E, Switzerland, Malaysia and now in Canada, where she was a senior dance teacher at Sampradaya Dance Academy. She is very actively involved in the arts in Toronto and won the VACCT award in 2016 for her volunteering contributions. As an arts administrator, she has worked for Dancer Transition Resource Center and Sunny Artist Management. She received the OAC's grant for her studies at Humber and also won the Dean's Award and Jerry Smith Scholarship for the program in 2016. She serves as board member for Lakeshore Arts and also interned with the Toronto Arts Foundation and Toronto Arts Council. Currently, Punthambekar works as a Project Coordinator for Tapestry Opera. She will performing for Fall for Dance North's Ball Passing as part of the 2017 festival.