Sarada Sarita

Sarada  originates  from  a  family of  dancers.  From  an  early  age, she practices a wide range of dance styles, ranging from  classical ballet to tap dancing, as well as jazz and hip hop. Having studied professional dance at Luca Marthas. During her time in New York, Sarada graduated from the Peridance  Centre  of  Art  &  Alignment  under  guidance  of  Anne-Marie Duchêne.

She is a creative maker and dancer who possesses tons of charisma, presence and a strong female power. She increasingly embraces these natural qualities and puts them to use in her creative process. Therefore, it makes complete sense that vogue, waacking and the attendant cultures fit seamlessly in her signature as a dancer and choreographer.

Spanning 2012 and 2016, Sarada alternated her homebase between the United States and The Netherlands. In New York, she immersed herself completely in the dance movements of voguing and waacking, cultures wherein she now finds a home and identity. These styles both originated in the Latin and Afro-American LGBTQ+-scene as a form of expression in reaction to the suppression that was felt by this community.

These dance subcultures celebrate being different and not following convention. This objective is important for Sarada to convey to her dancers, students and her community in the Netherlands. She celebrates difference in her work as a dancer; specifically, to show the human experience in all its different colors and emotions. In this endeavor, all voices are equal and she uses the stories and experiences of the dancers she works with through extensive studio research. 

In 2019, Sarada made a life-changing trip to South America that would influence her work and thinking in a profound, life-changing way. Among other things, she reconciled with her indigenous roots and embraced a chance to learn in-depth from tribes that are threatened with extinction. The link with her continuous attention for subjects such as suppression, expression and the waacking culture is evident. This journey granted her a new connection with and appreciation for nature, the concept of ‘the land and the natural way of life and death’.

Sarada has walked a diverse career path so far. In 2009, she danced with the Femme Lethal company, pioneering with a group of diverse women to clear the path for the introduction of new dance styles in The Netherlands. She later joined the dance company of ISH, where she is given more and more freedom to shape her own roles.

Furthermore, Sarada had nourished her talents as a choreographer in an extensive maker's residency. In 2019, she won the Zilveren Krekel for her role as witch in GRIMM (co-production Junior Company Het Nationale Ballet & ISH), a role in which she brandishes her long standing research and ability in vogue- and waacking. That same year, she received yet another prize, being awarded the BNG Bank Dansprijs for her debut Q4. In 2021, Sarita joined the production house of Korzo in 2021, directing her first full-length piece with Q5-The Quintessentials.