Our Story
Omkara Academy of Dance is a premier Bharata Natyam dance institution in Toronto which imparts training and offers classes in the Classical Indian dance of Bharata Natyam to aspiring students, artists and connoisseurs. It’s mission is to promote Bharata Natyam training in its purest form, have lecture demonstrations, workshops and in time creative productions not only with the pure idiom of Bharata Natyam but also socially relevant themes. Rooted in tradition, one of the most spiritual and celebrated dance form of India, Omkara’s choreographies will juxtapose the ancient and revered traditions of Bharata Natyam, with avant-garde interpretations
Our Staff
Rupal Patel
Director, Omkara Academy
Rupal Patel is an epitome of this perspective, and wishes to raise the bar for young enthusiasts who want to pursue the traditional Indian classical dance form Bharata Natyam. Unlike the present trend wherein Bharata Natyam teachers take the support of Bollywood dance to sustain their institute, Rupal is focused on her ambition to create an institution that emphasizes on the purity of the age old pure classical dance form Bharata Natyam.
What sets Rupal apart, is not only her dedication to delve deep but also her breadth of knowledge. Versatile, she is proficient in both the practical and theoretical nuances of the form.
With a strong base to support it, Rupal at a very young age graduated from one of the most eminent performing arts schools in India, at the Darpana Academy of Performing Arts founded by the doyen and high priestess of dance Mrinalini Sarabhai. After rigorous training in the Pandanallur style at Darpana, Rupal migrated to Canada.
She is a certified Bharata Natyam dancer not only from Darpana but also from the JG College of Performing Arts. The only college affiliated to Gujarat University in Ahmedabad. Gujarat. India offering a certified Diploma in Performing Arts.
After having voluntarily lent her services as an accomplished teacher to a dance Institution in Toronto for over ten years, Rupal started her own Institution – ‘Omkara Academy of Dance’, to realize her dream.
“In all walks of life, particularly in the realm of art, the human spirit yearns for perfection.”
