India’s President Pratibha Devisingh Patil presented the award to Pada at a ceremony in New Delhi. Founder and artistic director of , as well as founder and director of Sampradaya Dance Academy, Pada says, “It’s quite an honour to be one out of 15 chosen from about 24 million people of Indian origin who live around the world. I think it’s not too often they’ve given this to an artist or a woman.”

Right: Lata Pada performing in a production of Kshetram – Dancing the Divine

It is the recognition by India for her contributions to the arts in Canada that really tickles her. “That is the one that gives me so much joy,” she says. “For the 46 years I’ve lived here, I’ve been demystifying the arts of India so they can share the stage with others around the world.”

It’s a passion Pada doesn’t ever see coming to an end. In fact, she was in India when the word came she was nominated and then chosen for the award, meeting with costume designers and dancers for her next production, Taj, which she calls “a true India-Canada collaboration.” The world premiere of Taj was commissioned by (June 10 to 19) and tells the human story behind India’s Taj Mahal. Taj will run June 10 to 12 at the Fleck Theatre, Harbourfront Centre in Toronto.

“It’s quite different from anything the company has done in the past because it’s more theatre based,” says Pada, responsible for the concept and artistic direction behind Taj.

Award-winning Canadian playwright John Murrell has been commissioned to write the script for Taj, which will be a 90-minute contemporary dance-theatre piece directed by Tom Diamond, choreographed by India’s Kathak artist Kumudini Lakhia and featuring Canadian actress Lisa Ray and Bollywood star Kabir Bedi. 91��ɫ theatre Professor Phillip Silver will do the set and lighting design, Jacques Collin the visual design, Praveen D. Rao the music and Rashmi Varma costume design.

Pada, who is also a member of the Faculty of Fine Arts Advisory Council , also collaborates with 91��ɫ through Sampradaya Dance Creations for Dance Intense, an annual choreographic residency that provides opportunity for professional development for emerging artists practicing in South Asian dance.

Left: Lata Pada

Her advocacy work, however, can’t be ignored. Her award is also for “the advocacy role I took in pushing for an inquiry and for keeping this terrible, heinous tragedy uppermost in the minds of Canadians,” she says. And hard as it is – Pada lost her first husband and two daughters in the Air India bombing – it has given her a place to focus her rage. “It happened 25 years ago, but there is still so much to learn. It was an awakening for Canada.” The plan was devised on Canadian soil by Canadians, against Canadians.

Pada was determined to have government agencies, which were “incompetent, negligent or culturally insensitive” in the lead up the tragedy “take ownership of what went wrong.” It’s not over yet. Aviation security problems and terrorist threats are still issues today, and it remains to be seen how many of the 64 recommendations made in the final report in June 2010 by the , headed up by retired judge John Major, will be adopted, she says.

Art of course, is an area that Pada has turned to in dealing with the tragedy, and she continues to do so. Her 2003 dance-theatre production, Revealed by Fire, portrayed her dark journey through grief and subsequent emergence to reclaim her life (see YFile, Nov. 11, 2003). It also had a 91��ɫ connection, involving 91��ɫ playwright Judith Rudakoff in the Department of Theatre, Faculty of Fine Arts.

This dancer, choreographer and advocate has also received the 2007 Lifetime Achievement Award from the Toronto Sanskriti Sangha, the 2006 Best Teacher Award from the Cleveland Thyagaraja Aradhana, the 2003 Professional Woman of the Year Award from the Indo-Canada Chamber of Commerce, the 2000 New Pioneers Award and the 1995 Mississauga Arts Award.

By Sandra McLean, YFile writer

Republished courtesy of YFile– 91��ɫ’s daily e-bulletin

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The 91��ɫ Circle is an ongoing program that offers curious people like Pitt an opportunity to experience university lectures first-hand. It was created for parents and family of 91��ɫ students, alumni, neighbours and friends who want to hear leading 91��ɫ faculty explore their ideas and research.

Right: The 91��ɫ Circle offers an opportunity for non-students to hear lectures by 91��ɫ faculty

Pitt is among more than 500 people who have joined the 91��ɫ Circle since it began last October and says that she appreciates the opportunity to experience University life because she was never able to realize her own dream of attending university. "When I was growing up in Britain, the country was just coming out of the Second World War," she says. "The soldiers lucky enough to survive were offered priority spots in university programs. There were very few spots left for everyone else. I was not able to attend university and instead studied to become a children's nurse. This program offers a great chance for me to experience university."

Coordinated by 91��ɫ President Emerita Lorna Marsden and Cynthia Bettcher, special adviser to Jennifer Sloan, vice-president of university relations, with help from 91��ɫ's Alumni Office and print media sponsors and 91��ɫ Region Media Group, the 91��ɫ Circle embodies the spirit, energy and intellectual excellence of the University’s 50th anniversary, which was celebrated in 2009.

Left: 91��ɫ alumnus and 91��ɫ Circle member Bart Zemanek (BA Spec. Hons. ’07, MSc ’10) with Lorna Marsden

For Marsden, the 91��ɫ Circle offers a wonderful opportunity to transport the magic of 91��ɫ's talented faculty into the University's affiliated communities. “The 91��ɫ Circle comes from the goal of making our really marvelous faculty members better known through their ideas and work, and helps the community to better understand the University,” says Marsden. “The 91��ɫ Circle offers serious talks for lay people who don’t have the opportunity to attend lectures.”

The circle offers a cross-section of 91��ɫ’s leading professors and researchers presenting talks on topics that are current and engaging. Twice a year, the circle’s membership gathers on 91��ɫ’s Keele campus for a full day of lectures and a complimentary locally sourced (locavore) lunch. The inaugural event took place last fall. On May 1, the 91��ɫ Circle returned, bringing more than 150 members back to the Keele campus.

Right: There is no generation gap here. 91��ɫ Circle member Irina Shoikhedbrod brought her son, 91��ɫ political science master's student Igor Shoikhedbrod, to the May 1 event

The October launch event featured lectures by Faculty of Health Dean Harvey Skinner, astronomy Professor Paul Delaney and theatre Professor Phillip Silver.

The May 1 event repeated the format established by the inaugural event and offered lectures by four 91��ɫ faculty. The morning sessions featured presentations by film Professor Seth Feldman, director of the Robarts Centre for Canadian Studies, and psychology Professor Debra Pepler, member of the LaMarsh Centre for Research on Violence & Conflict Resolution. Feldman talked about his experience working for a year on a documentary about Charles Darwin and about why Darwin matters and how the noted scientist means different things to different people. Pepler spoke about how the patterns of power and aggression established in playground bullying move on to become sexual harassment and dating violence in adolescence and workplace harassment in adulthood.

Left: Professor Seth Feldman talks about his research and experience making a documentary on Charles Darwin

Following lunch, the 91��ɫ Circle members listened to talks by Osgoode Hall Law School Professor Allan Hutchinson and Schulich School of Business Professor Bernard Wolf. Hutchinson delivered an energetic lecture about some of the great cases that shaped the legal world. Wolf talked about the aftermath of the most recent economic crisis, the resulting ballooning national debts and the implications of the economic health of the United States, Greece and Spain on the global community.

Videos of each of the presentations are available on the 91��ɫ Circle Web site.

The response to the 91��ɫ Circle events have been heartwarming, says Bettcher. “Seventy-two per cent of those who attended the May 1 event completed a survey about their 91��ɫ Circle experience," she says. "Of those, more than 99 per cent indicated that they were very satisfied with the day. What we found so significant about the responses was that everyone said they would attend another 91��ɫ Circle event.

"One of the biggest requests we got following the first 91��ɫ Circle event, which took place last October, was for the recipe for the spicy pumpkin soup that was served at the locavore lunch,” laughs Bettcher. She and Marsden immediately got to work tracking down the recipe (right) and arranged to have it modified for smaller, family-sized portions. The soup, says Bettcher, was created for the 91��ɫ Circle lunch by the chefs working at the Underground restaurant on 91��ɫ’s Keele campus.

What's next on the agenda for this legacy jewel? Bettcher says the next event is Raise Your Space IQ, which will take place on Saturday, July 17, from 9 to 11pm. During this event, 91��ɫ astronomy Professor Paul Delaney (who delivered a presentation at the inaugural 91��ɫ Circle event) will lead participants through a tour of the night sky. The 50 91��ɫ Circle members who were first to sign up for the event will have an opportunity to look through the University's telescopes and listen to Delaney and astronomy students talk about the wonders of the universe.

Coming this fall, 91��ɫ Circle members will be able to to a new series of concerts and events brought to 91��ɫ from venues around the world through a new partnership between the 91��ɫ Circle and DigiScreen. In a departure from other 91��ɫ Circle events, the Prestigious Performances have been thrown open to everyone, including 91��ɫ students and faculty. The Prestigious Performances Series will be brought to the big screen in the Price Family Cinema by DigiScreen through the company's alliance with Opus Arte and the Royal Opera House of London.

The Prestigious Performance Series will offer world-class concerts, theatre, opera and ballet, presented in high definition format, from venues such as Covent Garden in London, the Palais Garnier in Paris, Teatro Real in Madrid, Shakespeare's Globe Theatre in London and the Lincoln Center in New 91��ɫ City. 91��ɫ professors will moderate each performance.

The series will be presented on Sunday afternoons starting at 2pm, with the first presentation on Sept. 26 showcasing a performance of As You Like It by William Shakespeare, from the Globe Theatre with an enlivening commentary by theatre Professor Mark Wilson, associate dean in 91��ɫ's Faculty of Fine Arts.

Other performances include a concert featuring the music of the late jazz icon Ray Charles with commentary by 91��ɫ music Professor Ronald Westray and a presentation of Puccini's opera La Bohème. For more on these performances, visit the 91��ɫ Circle Web site.

Left: 91��ɫ Circle member Elizabeth Pitt

The membership will also be returning to the Keele campus on Oct. 30 for another full-day lecture and lunch presentation. Details of this event will be made available early in June on the 91��ɫ Circle Web site.

"I can hardly wait," says an enthused Pitt. "My calendar for the fall is looking wonderful."

By Jenny Pitt-Clark, YFile editor and eldest daughter of Elizabeth Pitt.

Republished courtesy of YFile– 91��ɫ’s daily e-bulletin.

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