Malavika Santhosh

🪔 About

Malavika Santhosh is a Bharatanatyam dancer and teacher, originally from Thiruvalla, Kerala, India. Her early immersion in dance and music, influenced by her family's artistic background, led her to begin dance classes at the age of five in Dubai, UAE. There, she received her initial training in various South Indian classical dance forms, including Kuchipudi, Mohiniyattam, and Keralanadanam, under the tutelage of RLV Anil Kumar. Upon relocating to Vancouver, Canada, Santhosh continued her Bharatanatyam training at Mandala Arts and Culture. She completed her Bharatanatyam Arangetram in April 2009, under the guidance of Guru Jai Govinda, and is a graduate of the Jai Govinda Dance Academy in Vancouver. As a Bharatanatyam soloist, Malavika Santhosh has performed extensively at numerous events across Vancouver, including the Mela & Winterruption Festival, Burnaby Festival of Dance, Vancouver DiwaliFest, International Dance Day Celebrations, Vancouver Film School Impact Awards, Young Peoples Concert, Vancouver Youth Awards, and Gait to the Spirit Festival. Her performances have also extended to significant national events, such as a performance for Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to Vancouver, and an invitation to perform at the Beyond Boundaries Dance Symposium in Toronto as a "New Generation Dancer in Canada." Santhosh has also been a company dancer with Nova Dance, contributing to productions like the 2022 premiere of "Svaha." Demonstrating her creative and collaborative spirit, she co-conceived, performed, and directed the production "Shiva (he)/Shakti (she)" alongside Kiruthika Rathanaswami, a work choreographed by Jai Govinda that explores duality through Bharatanatyam. Beyond her performance career, Malavika Santhosh is recognized as a Bharatanatyam teacher, balancing her artistic pursuits with a career in the tech industry.