Umeshi Rajeendra - CoFounder & Artistic Director

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Umeshi Rajeendra is a Sri Lankan/Ilankai-born dance artist, educator, and choreographer whose artistic and academic work has focused on intersectional solidarity through original productions since 2012. She began her dance training at the age of six and earned her Master of Fine Arts (MFA) in Dance from the University of the Arts, USA, where she was honored as one of the recipients with the President's Fund for Excellence. She also holds a Bachelor of Arts in Dance and Economics from Denison University, USA.

Umeshi has worked with renowned international artists such as Dada Masilo, Netta Yerushalmy, Jesse Zaritt, and more, gaining extensive experience across America, Europe, and South Asia. Her movement practice and research embody an anti-colonial contemporary dance ethos, informed by her training in Ballet, Kandyan, Bharatanatyam, modern dance, floor work, West African diasporic styles, martial arts, and hip hop, all approached through a global south lens.

Currently, Umeshi is the Co-Founder and Artistic Director of MeshGround, a Platform for Movement Arts, and serves as a visiting lecturer at various universities. She is dedicated to exploring embodied relational agency, embracing discomfort, difference, and alterity to challenge performativity.

To read more about her movement practice, check out her interview here.