Nandita Shankardass is a Performing Artist, Choreographer, Educator, Movement facilitator and the Founder of Welcome Movement®. To date, she is one of two females of Indian heritage to have trained at The Royal Ballet School, and went on to become one of the first female professional Ballet dancers of Indian heritage in the world.
She nurtures her creative practice with communities, professional artists and young people, across all ages, backgrounds and abilities in a range of settings and in public spaces from theatres, museums and galleries to the outdoors. Nandita’s work explores human connection, identity and belonging, led by the act of exchange and co-creation, where we share our stories and harness the power of our lived experience in accessible, engaging and transformative ways.
Nandita founded Welcome Movement® in 2020 to generate wellbeing, stimulate creativity and empower freedom of expression through movement and dance for individuals, organisations and communities to engage with and explore. She has devised and delivered workshops and performances for Summer on the Square with National Gallery and Design and Dance Family workshops at William Morris Gallery. She is a Clore Emerging Leader alumni of 2022, an Artist in Residence and Faculty member at Rambert Dance, an Associate Artist and Ballet Futures Facilitator with English National Ballet, a delivering workshop artist with Akademi and Improvisation Tutor at Central School of Ballet. Nandita is a trustee on the Board of Dancers Career Development.
Nandita’s latest outdoor dance theatre work ‘Roots to Rise’ has been selected for Without Walls 2025 programme, receiving a commissioning award to create and tour her work to festivals throughout the U.K in 2025 including, Norfolk & Norwich Festival, Brighton Festival, An Indian Summer Festival, Ensemble Festival, Stockton International Riverside Festival and Greenwich & Docklands International Festival. Previously she was selected as an 101 Outdoor Arts SEEDBED Artist in 2024 and worked in partnership with OmVed Gardens, for the research and development of this new outdoor work. Also in 2024, she was a selected Choreographer for McNicol Ballet Collective’s ‘Compositions & Configurations’ residency also in 2024, creating new work in collaboration with Composer Kerrin Tatman.
Born in London, Nandita started learning Ballet at age 4 at the Audrey Joyce School of Dance in North London and went on to train at The Royal Ballet School from the age of 11 following on from being a Junior Associate. From an early age she nurtured a passion for choreography and during her time as a student was awarded The Dame Ninette De Valois Award & The James Monahan Award for her choreographic work.
Her career has taken her to dance with world-renowned companies; Zürcher Ballet, Victor Ullate Ballet, Ballet Black, Scottish Ballet and Compañia Nacional de Danza, performing across Europe and the U.K and touring internationally in a diverse range of classical and contemporary repertoire by a spectrum of choreographers including George Balanchine, William Forysthe, Jiri Kylian, Ben Stevenson, Uwe Scholz, Ohad Naharin, Lin Hwai-min, Ashley Page, Kryztof Pastor, Jose Carlos Martinez, Richard Alston, Shobana Jeyasingh, Liam Scarlett and Juanjo Arques and Heidi Verthaler and Heinz Spoerli.
Her professional choreographic commissions include ‘Capture’ for Zürcher Junior Ballet in 2006, ‘Synergy’ for Ballet Black’s Young Choreographers’ showcase in 2011 and ‘Jaane Ajnabee’ for Compania Nacional de Danza’s Young Choreographers’ evening in 2012, whilst a member of these companies. She was commissioned to choreograph and perform for tve Global Sustainability Awards in 2012 in collaboration with Flux with the piece ‘Shadowlines.’ and in 2021 with ‘Everything that touches you, you touch’ in collaboration with poet Sunnah Khan and musician Tommy Khosla. Nandita co – produced and performed in the collaborative work ‘In Other Words’ with Flux and Richard Bermange at Kings Place in 2016. She choreographed and produced the dance film ‘Returns to Nature’ in collaboration with composer Preetha Narayanan and cinematographer Thom Seaman and Dance film ‘Dhi Nīla’ in collaboration with Mithun Gill.
Nandita has choreographed her solo work ‘Rainsoaked…’ which she has performed across London. She choreographed the duets ‘Lightweight’ for Normansfield Theatre and ‘Umbra’. Nandita has performed in Vidya Patel’s ‘When life gives you melons’ at Sadlers Wells and in ‘Good mourning earth’ along with facilitating family workshops at Tate Modern and has performed with Orchestra Qawwali Project at The Camden Roundhouse and The Royal Albert Hall. She has collaborated with Sujata Banerjee Dance Company, teaching and performing in their production of ‘Swan Lake’ (retold with Kathak dance). Nandita performed in ‘The Game’ by Hubert Essakow and in ‘Two sides to every swan’ by Joseph Toonga for Family Sunday events at the Royal Opera House. She has performed with Adrian Look Tanztheater in ‘The Art of Failure’ at The Place and with Beeja Dance in their production of ‘Choogh Choogh’ created for early years.
Nandita has collaborated with Joss Arnott Dance in Dance:Connects programme for Greenwich Dance’s Arts Unboxed and with Sadlers Wells to co-create Taster Dance workshops for their Take Part online series. She has worked with Fabula Collective as a creative consultant and assists artists and performers with movement direction and dramaturgy. Nandita has directed singer/songwriter Sabiyha in her music video ‘Bird’ and Mithun Gill in his work ‘Unfold me’ for Emerge Festival 2020. She created tailored experiences for organisations and spaces including JKS Restaurant group, GuarantCo, Baytree Centre, English National Ballet Youth Co., and Spring Grove Care Home.
She has been teaching companies, artists and the wider community of all ages, backgrounds and abilities for over 10 years with dance classes and creative workshops across London, Europe and Asia. She has led classes and workshops for Rambert Professional and Adult Classes, Ballet Black, Alexander Whitley Dance Company, Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Dance, Central School of Ballet students and Adult classes, Edge n’ Pointe Dance Centre, Shiamak Davar Dance Company, Hamara Footpath, Segovia Dance School, World Peace Garden Camden, London Fields Primary School and The Nautical School. Nandita is DBS approved and has an Ofqual accredited qualification in Contemporary Dance from Rambert Grades for Creative dance for early years and Grades 1 – 8. She holds a BA degree in Humanities and Innovation.
Nandita is interested in how the creative and production processes in the arts and culture can generate a sustainable future for the environment, which surrounds us, as well as the inner environment of our body, mind and soul. She is continually driven by the care and compassion she can create and offer in her creative processes and in the participatory experiences and spaces she facilitates. Nandita is passionate about empowering females to rise and follow their creative dreams and visions and aspires to work towards the dance sector becoming welcoming, safe and inclusive to all. She forms part of the Dancers Career Development EDI working group 2022-2023 and the Artists’ advisory group for Without Walls Consortium 2023 -2024.
As an evolving artist and emerging leader Nandita continues to develop her creative work and teaching practice through ongoing research, collaborations and initiatives.
LEARN MORE ABOUT HER JOURNEY
Nandita Shankardass is a Performing Artist, Choreographer, Educator, Movement facilitator and the Founder of Welcome Movement®. To date, she is one of two females of Indian heritage to have trained at The Royal Ballet School, and went on to become one of the first female professional Ballet dancers of Indian heritage in the world.
She nurtures her creative practice with communities, professional artists and young people, across all ages, backgrounds and abilities in a range of settings and in public spaces from theatres, museums and galleries to the outdoors. Nandita’s work explores human connection, identity and belonging, led by the act of exchange and co-creation, where we share our stories and harness the power of our lived experience in accessible, engaging and transformative ways.
Nandita founded Welcome Movement® in 2020 to generate wellbeing, stimulate creativity and empower freedom of expression through movement and dance for individuals, organisations and communities to engage with and explore. She has devised and delivered workshops and performances for Summer on the Square with National Gallery and Design and Dance Family workshops at William Morris Gallery. She is a Clore Emerging Leader alumni of 2022, an Artist in Residence and Faculty member at Rambert Dance, an Associate Artist and Ballet Futures Facilitator with English National Ballet, a delivering workshop artist with Akademi and Improvisation Tutor at Central School of Ballet. Nandita is a trustee on the Board of Dancers Career Development
Nandita’s latest outdoor dance theatre work ‘Roots to Rise’ has been selected for Without Walls 2025 programme, receiving a commissioning award to create and tour her work to festivals throughout the U.K in 2025 including Norfolk & Norwich Festival, Brighton Festival, An Indian Summer Festival, Ensemble Festival, Stockton International Riverside Festival and Greenwich & Docklands International Festival.
Previously she was selected as an 101 Outdoor Arts SEEDBED Artist in 2024 and worked in partnership with OmVed Gardens, for the research and development of this new outdoor work. Also in 2024, she was a selected Choreographer for McNicol Ballet Collective’s ‘Compositions & Configurations’ residency also in 2024, creating new work in collaboration with Composer Kerrin Tatman.
Born in London, Nandita started learning Ballet at age 4 at the Audrey Joyce School of Dance in North London and went on to train at The Royal Ballet School from the age of 11 following on from being a Junior Associate. From an early age she nurtured a passion for choreography and during her time as a student was awarded The Dame Ninette De Valois Award & The James Monahan Award for her choreographic work.
Her career has taken her to dance with world-renowned companies; Zürcher Ballet, Victor Ullate Ballet, Ballet Black, Scottish Ballet and Compañia Nacional de Danza, performing across Europe and the U.K and touring internationally in a diverse range of classical and contemporary repertoire by a spectrum of choreographers including George Balanchine, William Forysthe, Jiri Kylian, Ben Stevenson, Uwe Scholz, Ohad Naharin, Lin Hwai-min, Ashley Page, Kryztof Pastor, Jose Carlos Martinez, Richard Alston, Shobana Jeyasingh, Liam Scarlett and Juanjo Arques and Heidi Verthaler and Heinz Spoerli.
Her professional choreographic commissions include ‘Capture’ for Zürcher Junior Ballet in 2006, ‘Synergy’ for Ballet Black’s Young Choreographers’ showcase in 2011 and ‘Jaane Ajnabee’ for Compania Nacional de Danza’s Young Choreographers’ evening in 2012, whilst a member of these companies. She was commissioned to choreograph and perform for tve Global Sustainability Awards in 2012 in collaboration with Flux with the piece ‘Shadowlines.’ and in 2021 with ‘Everything that touches you, you touch’ in collaboration with poet Sunnah Khan and musician Tommy Khosla. Nandita co – produced and performed in the collaborative work ‘In Other Words’ with Flux and Richard Bermange at Kings Place in 2016. She choreographed and produced the dance film ‘Returns to Nature’ in collaboration with composer Preetha Narayanan and cinematographer Thom Seaman and Dance film ‘Dhi Nīla’ in collaboration with Mithun Gill.
Nandita has choreographed her solo work ‘Rainsoaked…’ which she has performed across London. She choreographed the duets ‘Lightweight’ for Normansfield Theatre and ‘Umbra’. Nandita has performed in Vidya Patel’s ‘When life gives you melons’ at Sadlers Wells and in ‘Good mourning earth’ along with facilitating family workshops at Tate Modern and has performed with Orchestra Qawwali Project at The Camden Roundhouse and The Royal Albert Hall. She has collaborated with Sujata Banerjee Dance Company, teaching and performing in their production of ‘Swan Lake’ (retold with Kathak dance). Nandita performed in ‘The Game’ by Hubert Essakow and in ‘Two sides to every swan’ by Joseph Toonga for Family Sunday events at the Royal Opera House. She has performed with Adrian Look Tanztheater in ‘The Art of Failure’ at The Place and with Beeja Dance in their production of ‘Choogh Choogh’ created for early years.
Nandita has collaborated with Joss Arnott Dance in Dance:Connects programme for Greenwich Dance’s Arts Unboxed and with Sadlers Wells to co-create Taster Dance workshops for their Take Part online series. She has worked with Fabula Collective as a creative consultant and assists artists and performers with movement direction and dramaturgy. Nandita has directed singer/songwriter Sabiyha in her music video ‘Bird’ and Mithun Gill in his work ‘Unfold me’ for Emerge Festival 2020. She created tailored experiences for organisations and spaces including JKS Restaurant group, GuarantCo, Baytree Centre, English National Ballet Youth Co., and Spring Grove Care Home.
She has been teaching companies, artists and the wider community of all ages, backgrounds and abilities for over 10 years with dance classes and creative workshops across London, Europe and Asia. She has led classes and workshops for Rambert Professional and Adult Classes, Ballet Black, Alexander Whitley Dance Company, Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Dance, Central School of Ballet students and Adult classes, Edge n’ Pointe Dance Centre, Shiamak Davar Dance Company, Hamara Footpath, Segovia Dance School, World Peace Garden Camden, London Fields Primary School and The Nautical School. Nandita is DBS approved and has an Ofqual accredited qualification in Contemporary Dance from Rambert Grades for Creative dance for early years and Grades 1 – 8. She holds a BA degree in Humanities and Innovation.
Nandita is interested in how the creative and production processes in the arts and culture can generate a sustainable future for the environment, which surrounds us, as well as the inner environment of our body, mind and soul. She is continually driven by the care and compassion she can create and offer in her creative processes and in the participatory experiences and spaces she facilitates. Nandita is passionate about empowering females to rise and follow their creative dreams and visions and aspires to work towards the dance sector becoming welcoming, safe and inclusive to all. She forms part of the Dancers Career Development EDI working group 2022-2023 and the Artists’ advisory group for Without Walls Consortium 2023 -2024.
As an evolving artist and emerging leader Nandita continues to develop her creative work and teaching practice through ongoing research, collaborations and initiatives.
LEARN MORE ABOUT HER JOURNEY
