Welcome to the heart of our festival—our incredible Resident Artists. This year’s lineup brings together inspiring and innovative groups representing dance forms from Hawaiʻi, India, and Fiji, respectively. Our artists share a passion for powerful storytelling, cultural engagement, and artistic excellence. Learn more about each dance group and their artistic directors below.
Meet the Resident Dance Groups and Artistic Directors
Pua Aliʻi ʻIlima
Hālau Pua Aliʻi ʻIlima, established in 1977 by renowned kumu hula Vicky Holt Takamine, is based in both Honolulu and New York City. Named Pua Aliʻi ʻIlima by Vicky’s kumu hula, Maiki Aiu Lake, it translates to “Royal ʻIlima Blossom”, which alludes to Vicky’s graduation from Maiki’s Papa ʻIlima (ʻilima class) as well as her royal Hawaiian ancestry.
Dedicated to preserving Native Hawaiian arts and cultural traditions, the hālau aims to pass these practices on to future generations. PA’I, the acronym of Pua Ali ʻi ʻIlima means “sudden impact” or “slap” in ‘Olelo Hawai’i, symbolizing their commitment to viewing Native Hawaiian artistic expressions as a form of resistance and using the arts to inspire, organize, and empower local communities.
Led by both Vicky Holt Takamine and her son Jeffrey Kānekaʻiwilani Takamine, the hālau participates in cultural festivals and events throughout Hawaiʻi, and has performed prestigious venues nationally and internationally such as The Kennedy Center, La MaMa Theatre, Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival, among others.
To learn more about the hālau, visit their website.
Kumu Vicky Holt Takamine
Vicky Holt Takamine is a renowned kumu hula (master teacher of Hawaiian dance). She is recognized as a native Hawaiian leader for role as an advocate for social justice issues, the protection of native Hawaiian rights, and the natural and cultural resources of Hawai‘i.
In 1975, Vicky ʻūniki (graduated through the rituals of hula) as a kumu hula from hula master Maiki Aiu Lake. She then established her own hālau, Pua Ali’i ‘Ilima, (school of Hawaiian dance) in 1977.
Vicky went on to earn her BA & MA in dance ethnology from the University of Hawai’i at Mānoa. In addition to teaching her own school, Vicky lectured at the University of Hawaiʻi at Manoa and Leeward Community College for more than 35 years.
Read more about Kumu Vicky Holt Takamine receiving the prestigious Dorothy and Lillian Gish Prize here.
Arzoo Dance Theatre
Arzoo Dance Theatre (ADT) creates contemporary dance theatre works using a variety of dance forms from east and west, seeking a new choreographic voice that blends cultural aesthetics, ancient knowledge and contemporary artistic thought. The company promotes the development and practice of South Asian dance, primarily Kathak, in Canada and internationally.
Founded in 2001 by Deepti Gupta, ADT has created ground-breaking choreographies commissioned by the National Arts Centre//Canada Dance Festival, the Banff Centre for the Arts which have been performed at the NAC Theatre, Ottawa; Eric Harvie Theatre, Banff; Dance space Project, New York, among other venues. Arzoo has performed in diverse locations from lofts to parks to prestigious venues including the National Arts Centre & Centrepointe Theatre, Ottawa, Market Hall, Peterborough, L.R. Wilson Hall, Hamilton.
Visit their website to learn more about Arzoo Dance Theatre.
Deepti Gupta
Artistic Director Deepti Gupta has won the City of Hamilton Arts Creator Award and Dora Mavor Moore Award for Costume Design. Over the years she has received many grants, awards and commissions to support her creative work including a Chalmers Award, NAC commissions and a Banff Centre for the Arts Residency. Born in India, Deepti is a disciple of Sri Munna Lal Shukla, renowned guru of the Lucknow Gharana. She trained and worked under the guidance of Kathak legend Pundit Birju Maharaj for over a decade. She studied choreography with Indian choreography pioneer Dr. Maya Rao and modern dance at le Groupe de la Place Royale in Ottawa. With an MA in Dance from York University, Toronto she has taught dance theory, practice and choreography in prestigious institutes. Her choreographic work is at the cutting edge of contemporary South Asian dance and she has collaborated with a diverse range of international musicians, designers, digital and new media artists.
Learn more about Deepti Gupta and her work here.
Rako Pasefika
Rako Pasefika is a globally recognized Oceanic collective dedicated to safeguarding and ensuring continued Pacific performative storytelling. The collective emphasizes the importance of heritage and cultural practices as essential elements of resilience, cultural revival, and empowerment. Through performances, workshops, and panel discussions, Rako Pasefika provides an immersive platform for sharing the cultural narratives of Pacific communities, including those from Rotuma, Tonga, Niue, Samoa, and Fiji. By integrating storytelling with creative expression, the collective fosters both cultural knowledge safeguarding and cross-cultural dialogue.
Rako Pasefika has performed at prestigious venues such as the Sydney Opera House, the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts in San Francisco, the historic DAR Constitution Hall in Washington, DC, and GOMA in Brisbane. The collective has also been featured at major international festivals, including the Woodford International Folk Festival and BluesFest. Their music significantly contributes to climate advocacy and cultural activism, taking part in important events such as the Global Climate Action Summit, COP23, COP24, and the IUCN World Parks Summit.
Read more about Rako Pasefika on their website.
Letila Mitchell
Letila Mitchell is a practicing artist, director, producer and the founder and artistic director of Rako Pasefika, a multidisciplinary collective of Oceanic storytellers and creative practitioners. Letila’s work explores a creative practice in the context of Indigenous Oceanic knowledge, with the goal of safeguarding knowledge and strengthening creative practices that link with cultural activism and conservation of biodiversity. Stories of Sạsi, Pera, Lạgi, of Ocean, Land and Sky, are intrinsically interwoven into her practice, while also building knowledge and creating with family and a community of practice. Her practice focuses on cultural entrepreneurship, transmission of cultural knowledge, arts for social change, and developing Pacific models for environmental and cultural sustainability across creative industries. She seeks to bring Oceanic women’s knowledge to the forefront because it is this missing knowledge and voices that perpetuate the imbalances that we see in our everyday lives in Oceania. As a woman of Oceania, her work is constantly inspired, motivated and responsive to the growing body of work by many Indigenous Oceanic women who actively work to respond to the ongoing impacts of globalization, economic and environmental challenges in the Pacific.
Learn more about Letila Mitchell and her work here.