Akademi: South Asian Dance

Akademi is a London based South Asian dance company, with a particular interest in dance education and community work. The Academy of Indian Dance, as it was then known, was founded in 1979 by Tara Rajkumar with the aim of moving Indian dance out of the home and into a more public space. Originally much of their activity centred on in-house evening classes and regional performances but as the company grew and gained funding the Academy of Indian Dance became a more extensive arts organisation with several departments supporting the work of performers out in the wider Arts community.

In 1997 the company was rechristened Akademi: South Asian Dance and began to spend more time working on larger scale productions. Key amongst these was ‘Coming of Age’ a performance in celebration of Akademi’s 21st birthday, which took place at the Southbank in 2000. Alongside the performance, from the early 80’s Akademi also hosted conferences and symposia examining various aspects of dance, worked on national and community projects and diversified their dance portfolio. The company continues to operate today, currently based in Hampstead.

From the guide to the Akademi, 1979-2002, (Special Collections, Brunel University Library)