Lecturer, School of Dance & Theatre

Dr Nidya Shanthini Manokara

lasalle_school_dance_theatre_lecturer_dr_nidya_shanthini
  • PhD (Theatre Studies), National University of Singapore, Singapore
  • BA Honors (Theatre Studies), National University of Singapore, Singapore

Dr Nidya Shanthini Manokara is a dance and theatre practitioner-researcher, educator, performer and dramaturg.

Classically trained in bharatanatyam, she received her PhD in Theatre Studies from the National University of Singapore (NUS) in 2014. In her collaborative performance-as-research projects, Shanthini often pries at the intersection of movement, dance and theatre to critically analyse performance-making. Her key works include the Wandering Women trilogy (2017-2024) with Nora Samosir and the ongoing Pickling Perfect with Melissa Quek. She has also presented papers on her works at multiple international conferences with a number of publications to her name. She serves as an external assessor with the National Arts Council and is the resident dramaturg with contemporary dance company, RAW MovesHer current practice research involves the role of female agency in dance and culinary practices.  

At LASALLE, Shanthini oversees the contextual classes across School of Dance & Theatre including dissertations. 

Read More

(select)

  • Manokara NS, ‘Mapping Critical Dance Studies in India’ by Urmimala Sarkar Munsi. Traditions of Music and Dance (Cambridge University Press), book review (forthcoming)
  • Manokara NS, Samosir NA, Wee L, ‘Rehabilitating Draupadi: From Subservience to Strength’ **in Women’s Innovations in Theatre, Dance, and Performance series, Volume 1: Performers (forthcoming)
  • Manokara NS, Samosir NA, Wee L, ‘Unpacking the Theatre-Religion Dialectic: Siting Christianity’s Mary Magdalene’ in Journal of Religion and Popular Culture (forthcoming)
  • Manokara NS, Samosir NA, Wee L,’ Sacred Sites, Secular Sounds’ in Ecumenica: Performance and Religion. Vol. 14. No 1 (2021) (pp 108–120)
  • Manokara, NS, ‘Off with the Shaking Heads!! Reel-izing the ‘Singapore Indian’ in the local Tamil films My Magic and Gurushetram – 24 Hours of Anger’ in Singapore Cinema: New Perspectives. Edited by Liew Kai Khiun and Stephen Teo, United Kingdom: Routledge (2016)
  • Liew KK, Manokara NS, T’a’at L, ‘Televised Minority Beauties: Ethno-cultural Anxieties and the construction of Minority Femininity in Ratu Suria and Miss Vasantham’, Critical Studies in Television, 1–11 (2016)
  • Manokara NS, Samosir NA, Wee L,  Gender and Theatre as Ideological Sites (under preparation)

Professional practice (select)

  • Resident dramaturg – Focus on education dramaturgy and performance dramaturgy, (RAW Moves); Singapore
  • Wandering Women: Sites, co-investigator/researcher with Nora Samosir, Creative Cube; Singapore (2024)
  • Shivam: Form to Formless An Esplanade Presents – Raga Series. Researcher, Choreographer, soloist, Indian Performing Arts Convention (IPAC) Residency Showcase Performances Esplanade Theatre Studio; Singapore (2021)
  • Punar: Revisiting the Margam, researcher and soloist, Black Box Centre 42; Singapore (2019)
  • Wandering Women: From Kurukshetra to Magdala, co-investigator/researcher with Ms Nora Samosir, Cake Theatre; Singapore (2019)
  • BITTEN: Return to Our Roots, co-investigator/researcher with Ms Thong Pei Qin, Kampong Bugis; Singapore ( 2018)
  • Becoming Mother, Centre42 Black Box; Singapore (2017)

Public sharing (select)

  • Esplanade Presents Hula meets Bharatanatyam*,* moderator, Esplanade Recital Studio; Singapore (2023)
  • Esplanade Offstage Theatre Made: Why the Mahabharata, researcher (2023)
  • Gestures and Animals: A Movement Workshop, ACRES Singapore, researcher and co-instructor (2022)
  • The Dancer & I, researcher and performer, library@Esplande; Singapore (2021)
  • C42 Dramaturg’s Works, guest speaker and resident dramaturg (Raw Moves), Centre 42; Singapore (2020)
  • Esplanade Offstage da:ns docuseries: What is rasa?, researcher and scriptwriter (2020).
  • Esplanade Offstage Aditi Mangaldas: Tradition with a modern mind, author (2019)
  • Coffee Chats da:ns festival, Reflections from a Dance Dramaturg, presenter, Esplanade; Singapore (2017)

Residencies

  • Invitation for research project – Rain Motions: Connecting (with) the Skies of Southeast Asia Scholar and Dramaturg, National Arts Council, Singapore and Ministry of Culture of Thailand in collaboration with SEAMEO SPAFA; Bangkok, Thailand (2023)
  • Bharatanatyam Dance Residency – Indian Performing Arts Convention (IPAC), Apsaras Arts; Singapore (2020–2021)

  • Practice research
  • Embodied performance practices
  • Artistic citizenship

  • Research Project Funding Scheme – Nodes of Rasa: Intersections between Performance and Culinary Arts. Co-Investigator with Ms Melissa Quek, LASALLE College of the Arts; Singapore (2024–2026)
  • Conference Travel Grant – Bites & Beats: Reclaiming female agency through movement and culinary arts for International Council for Traditions of Music and Dance (ICTMD) 48th World Conference, Victoria University of Wellington; Wellington, New Zealand. LASALLE College of the Arts (2025)
  • Conference Travel Grant – Beyond Words Workshop for CUMULUS Monterrey at Universidad de Monterrey (UDEM); Monterrey, Mexico. LASALLE College of the Arts (2024)
  • Conference Travel Grant – Exploring Female Agency through Dance and Culinary Artistry, International Federation for Theatre Research Conference (IFTR) at University of the Philippines Diliman; Manila, Philippines. LASALLE College of the Arts (2024)
  • Conference Travel Grant – Small Stories We Tell: Rehabilitating Draupadi, International Federation for Theatre Research Conference (IFTR) at University of Ghana, Accra, Ghana. Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences, National University of Singapore (2023)
  • Conference Travel Grant – Performing Mary Magdalene in Ideological Sites: Rethinking the Centre-Periphery Distinction, International Federation for Theatre Research Conference (IFTR) at University of Iceland, Reykjavík, Iceland, Research Division, Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences, National University of Singapore (2022)
  • Research Project Funding Scheme – Nuancing the Sitedness of Metatheatrical Strategies. Co-Investigator with Nora Samosir, LASALLE College of the Arts; Singapore (2023–2024)
  • Conference Travel Grant – Performing Mary Magdalene in Ideological Sites: Rethinking the Centre-Periphery Distinction, International Federation for Theatre Research Conference (IFTR) at University of Iceland, Reykjavík, Iceland, Research Division, Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences, National University of Singapore (2022)
  • Research Travel Grant – Female Representation in Theatre (working title for project), research in Jerusalem, Israel as co-investigator, Research Division, Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences, National University of Singapore (2018–2019)
  • Harmony Fund – Bitten: Return to Our Roots, co-creator and researcher of site-specific roving performance, Ministry of Culture, Community and Youth; Singapore (2018)
  • Our Singapore Fund – Bitten: Return to Our Roots, co-creator and researcher of site-specific roving performance, Ministry of Culture, Community and Youth; Singapore (2017–2018)