Roger Sinha

Roger Sinha was born in England of an Armenian mother and an Indian father. Inspired by his deep felt and intense need to reclaim his Indian heritage and to use this tradition to shape a modern expression of his reality, he created his own company Sinha Dance in 1991. Roger Sinha ventured into his first solo production with the creation of Burning Skin in 1992. The impact of this work was direct and met with immediate success. From London to Glasgow, while passing through Montreal, Vienna and New Delhi, as well as being filmed for television by the CBC, this work has received ongoing praise. In 1996, Roger Sinha was awarded the Bonnie Bird Choreography Fund in London.

In order to be truer to his cultural roots and to grow artistically, Roger Sinha began a deeper examination of the dance vocabulary of Bharata Natyam, the classical dance style from the south of India. By borrowing movements from Bharata Natyam, contemporary dance and martial arts and integrating them, Roger Sinha created his unique language and special signature.This new language took its form in 2000 with Loha, a duet created by Roger Sinha in collaboration with Natasha Bakht. In 2002, the quartet Thok was created. Together both pieces were performed to high critical acclaim and of sold out performances. Touring Canada, Thok was nominated for a Dora Mavor Moore prize in 2003-2004 for outstanding new choreography was adapted for the Bravo television series Dance with Me.

In October 2004, Sinha Danse premiered a new work, Apricot Trees Exist. At the same time, Roger received a special and unique commission to create Borders (and the blind men who build them), a dance work for the 1st Pierre Elliot Trudeau conference on Borders and Security. Finally, as part of Sinha Danse’s 15th anniversary, Roger Sinha remonted Benches, a work first created in 1996 for The Winnipeg Contemporary Dancers. In 2006 and 2007, Apricot Trees Exist was chosen to tour the island of Montréal in celebration of Montreal Art Council's 50ieth anniversay. In 2008, Roger Sinha has been invited to India for a creation residence, which will be followed by 8 performances of Thread, his new creation, at the MAI (Montréal Arts Interculturels) in May.