About
Kamala Devam Company (KDC) was founded in 2016 after the successful premiere of Kamala Devam’s first company piece Ankusha at the Southbank Centre in London.
Kamala Devam Company creates athletic and richly-layered dance work, seeking to affirm life for its audiences by taking risks onstage and through the concepts of its work. Kamala began her formal training as a dancer in the Indian classical tradition of Bharata Natyam in Northern California and went on to learn western contemporary forms. Integrating the themes and aesthetics of Bharata Natyam, western contemporary dance and acrobatics, KDC shapes a space where cultures and dance legacies collide by exploring the motivations that compel humanity to move forward.
ABOUT KAMALA DEVAM
Kamala Devam is an international and multilingual dance and performing artist. Her training in classical Indian dance, contemporary dance, physical theatre and vocal work has led her to perform in a wide range of companies and choreograph using all elements of her unique training, both in the United States and United Kingdom.
Raised as a Hindu in San Francisco under the spiritual guidance of Satguru Sivaya Subramuniyaswami, Kamala trained in Bharata Natyam (classical South Indian dance) for twelve years with Kalakshetra graduates Katherine and K.P. Kunhiraman in their school Kalanjali: Dances of India. She studied intensely with the Dhananjayans in 1994 and Kalakshetra K.P. Yesodha in Chennai in 2002. Discovering a curiosity and passion for modern dance as a young adult, she received her Bachelor of Arts degree in Choreography & Performance at San Francisco State University in 2001. She performed Bharata Natyam professionally in Malaysia, India and the United Kingdom and toured the US and Mexico with the California Contemporary Dancers directed by Yasmen Sorab Mehta and Sheetal Gandhi.
In the UK, Kamala has performed for the London 2012 Olympic Opening Ceremony with Akram Khan Company, toured internationally from 2004-2012 in numerous tours with Shobana Jeyasingh Dance, performed for Sadhana and ATMA dance companies and worked with many independent contemporary choreographers. She has also performed for the English National Opera and Akademi, as well as rehearsal directed for several London-based dance companies.
Choreographically, Kamala has co-created and internationally performed two dance pieces, Alter Ego 2007 and Last One Standing 2010 with dancer/choreographer Seeta Patel in London. They collaborated with Maria Åkesson in 2009 to make short dance film Last One Standing and again in 2013 to create their multi-award-winning dance film The Art of Defining Me, receiving critical acclaim from festival screenings around the world. She performed her solo choreographic debut piece FretLess at The Place, Rich Mix and the Southbank Centre in London 2010 – 2011 and for the Erasing Borders Festival in New York in 2013. Commercially, Kamala has danced in music videos for artists Charlie Winston and Shonu Das.
Kamala is a commissioned choreographer for university dance companies and youth dance companies in the UK and US. She teaches contemporary dance, Bharata Natyam and Kalaripayattu (Keralan Martial Arts) at all levels of education for institutions, private dance organisations and professional dance companies. Kamala is currently a Visiting Lecturer at the University of East London for their Dance: Urban Practice programme, lecturing in choreography and teaching Indian classical dance and martial arts to the next generation of urban dance artists in Britain.
To view Kamala’s performing work with dance companies and choreographic collaborations from 2005 – 2015, visit the Kamala Devam YouTube Channel
Headshot image: Tatiane Feres