Neena Jayarajan (she/her)

Associate Artist

Neena Jayarajan has trained with Guru Dr. Menaka Thakkar for over 28 years, and holds an MA in dance from York University. She served as Assistant Artistic Director, principal dancer, and rehearsal director of the Menaka Thakkar Dance Company (MTDC) for 6 years. Neena has toured across North America and Asia, and has performed in over 200 schools across Canada with MTDC’s children’s programming. Neena studied under renowned teachers including CV Chandrashekar, Sujatha Mohaptra, and Padma Bushan Kalanidhi Narayan. She has worked with various accomplished choreographers including Sylvie Bouchard, Danny Grossman & William Lau.

Birthplace: Toronto, Ontario

Training: Bharathanatyam & Odissi

With Nova Dance: Broken Lines, Jatiswaram Re-mix, M3, Purnima Pushpanjali, Svāhā!, Creation Lab (Facilitator), New Monuments, Discover Dance Host & Curatorial Team, Compassion Fund Co-ordinator

WE HAVE A VOICE, WE MUST SPEAK FOR OUR ART FORM AND OUR FELLOW HUMAN BEINGS - As a mom and caregiver, I work to find ways to support the caregivers at the Company, finding ways to acknowledge the many sacrifices they make to bring the best of themselves to Nova Dance. Growing our Compassion Fund through collaboration with Balancing Act enabled us to secure additional resources for our supermoms and caregivers. Sharing this important work with other organisations and modelling compassionate infrastructure is a privilege.