Meet The Founders

Arianna Afsar

Ari Ayesha Afsar (she/her) is a Bangladeshi-American mixed race singer, songwriter, and storyteller who believes in the power of art changing culture, and culture changing policy. A graduate of Ethnomusicology from UCLA, Afsar recently released her album, We Won’t Sleep, distributed by Sony Masterworks. She is the composer of Broadway-bound Jeannette, as named by Playbill. Her musical work has been commissioned by and featured at the La Jolla Playhouse (Allegory & Teacher Of The Year), Warren Miller Performing Arts Center (Keep Your Head Down), McCarter Theatre (I & You), University of Tennessee Knoxville (Teacher Of The Year), University of Missoula (Jeannette), Loyola Marymount University (Jeannette), Cooper Union (Letters To The President), Signature Theatre (Jeannette) and Texas State University (Jeannette). Afsar has opened for Michelle Obama, Kamala Harris, Raphael Warnock, Gloria Steinhem, Jane Fonda, Misty Copeland, Hillary Clinton, Michelle Kwan, Ani DiFranco and Cory Booker. Her credits include starring in the top 10 Netflix original movie Wedding Season, co-composing a song with Pasek & Paul for Shawn Mendez in Sony’s Lyle Lyle Crocodile, originating Eliza in Chicago's Hamilton, starring in the world premiere of Bhangin’ It at La Jolla Playhouse, winning Miss California 2010, placing top 10 at Miss America 2011, winning the Lyricist Award at The O'Neill NMTC 2018, and placing top 36 on American Idol. She is the co-founder of Until We Do It which provided 1 Million masks to communities disproportionately affected by Covid-19 in 2021 and she is currently an MPA candidate at NYU Wagner. 

Vikas Arun (he/him)

Vikas is a dancer, choreographer, and teacher from Seattle where he trained at Premiere Dance Center and the Alchemy Tap Project under Josh Scribner, Melissa Farrar, and Carolyn Farrar. He then moved to New York to pursue a degree in Engineering at Columbia University while cultivating his dance career. In New York, Vikas has established himself as a sought-after dancer in tap, contemporary, and Bollywood while graduating summa cum laude and being named a Robert Gartland Fellow at Columbia University. He has had the pleasure of working with numerous prestigious choreographers including Emmy nominees Chloe Arnold and Anthony Morigerato, Jeff Award winner Jared Grimes, MacArthur Genius grant winner Michelle Dorrance, and many others. His performance credits include TV (Good Morning America, So You Think You Can Dance, NBC’s New Amsterdam), film (Breaking Brooklyn), commercials (J.Crew, Vogue), and musicals (42nd Street, STOMP). He has performed for esteemed guests such as the President of the United States and the Prime Minister of India. His company Project Convergence, co-founded with Ramita Ravi, is the first company in residence at the American Tap Dance Foundation dedicated to blending tap dance with Bharatanatyam, a classical from of Indian percussive dance. The company’s performance credits include Spotify, Buzzfeed, and Lincoln Center, with media coverage from WNYC (New York Public Radio), Dance Magazine, Columbia Magazine, and The Hindu. You can catch him in print as the first South Asian Ambassador for Capezio or as a teacher at Broadway Dance Center and Columbia University

Sean Devare (he/him)

Sean Devare is a Brooklyn-based interdisciplinary theatre maker, designer, actor, and musician.  As an artist-in-residence and visiting faculty at Williams College he recently co-directed 'SHAKUNTALA: a remix,' which featured his original puppet designs. Sean's fabrication and design work has been featured Off Broadway and in regional theaters (incl. The Public, Theater Row, Flint Rep). His original performance pieces often adapt and reinterpret South and East Asian literature, and have been featured by Mabou Mines, Think!Chinatown, and KinoSaito. Founding member of Trinacria Theatre Company, Artistic Associate with Fault Line Theatre, and Associate Director with Kinding Sindaw. MFA Theatre, Sarah Lawrence College; BFA Illustration, RISD. Illustration, RISD.

Reshma Gajjar (she/her)

Reshma Gajjar is a second generation American performing artist multi-hyphenate - actor and dancer. Raised by her Indian immigrant parents in northern California, and the only one in her family to pursue the arts, she moved to Los Angeles on a scholarship to the Edge Performing Arts Center. She toured the world with Madonna, Ricky Martin and shared stages with Selena Gomez, Dua Lipa and Adele. Her works includes film, commercial and television sets directed by Spike Jonze, Katherine Bigelow and Damien Chazelle, recognizable for opening Oscar winning film La La Land as the “ingenue in the yellow dress” stuck in traffic.  Moving through all these spaces, balancing one foot in the entertainment industry and the other the arts -acting in independent films, modeling for inclusive brands or performing in immersive theater - she lets her humanity lead. 

Rohit Gijare (he/him)

Rohit Gijare a professional Choreographer and Dancer based in New York City. Born in India, Rohit continued his dance training as he grew up in the U.S. in dance forms such as Kathak, Indian Folk, Street Jazz, Hip Hop and more. With the
unconditional support of his parents, Rohit began his professional dance career at the age of 21. At this time, Rohit became the principle dancer and choreographer for
one of the first major global Bollywood touring show, Mystic India. Now with over a decade of professional experience, Rohit has garnered a following worldwide. He continued his work in theater as the Director of Choreography for Bollywood Blvd, which was one of the first shows to premiere at the Lincoln Center Out of Doors Festival. Rohit currently is the Associate Choreographer for Mira Nair’s Monsoon Wedding Musical. He was also recently part of Aditya Chopra / Yash Raj Film’s “Come Fall In Love: The DDLJ Musical

as Dance Captain & Ensemble Cast. Rohit’s selected notable achievements include: Dance India Dance: Runner Up, So
You Think You Can Dance (assistant choreographer), Diwali at TimesSquare with Terence Lewis. He has choreographed two NBA Halftime Show with Philadelphia 76ers and worked with brands such LVHM, Neuman’s Kitchen, Spotify, JetBlue and Etsy. He continues to teach classes and workshops in cities around the world. Rohit now creates work on a multitude of platforms from Theater, Film/TV and social media. Rohit’s YouTube Channel (375K Subscribers), Instagram (80K Followers), Tik Tok(35K Followers) continue to grow.

Devanand Janki (he/him)

Devanand Janki stands as an illustrious Director-Choreographer in New York City, heralding from Canada, renowned for his award-winning productions and unwavering commitment to championing diversity in the arts. He is the founder and Artistic Director of Live & In Color, dedicated to cultivating groundbreaking plays and musicals that boldly celebrate diversity and foster inclusivity. His prolific New York credits include the hit Off-Broadway show Zanna, Don’t!, a triumphant recipient of the Lortel, Callaway, and GLAAD Media Awards. The new musical Little Girl Blue, garnered Audelco and Lortel Award nominations, John Patrick Shanley’s Romantic Poetry for the Manhattan Theatre Club, The Yellow Brick Road (Callaway nomination), Junie B. Jones (Lortel nomination), Cupid & Psyche, Henry & Mudge (Lortel nomination), Skippyjon Jones (Lortel nomination) and This One Girl’s Story (Abingdon Theatre, GLAAD Media Award nomination) stand out among his extensive body of work. 

Beyond New York, Janki’s influence extends globally, having directed productions in Canada, Taiwan, Tokyo, and Korea, including the Korean Premiere of Zanna, Don't! and concerts for Japan's leading boy band, Shonentai. His dedication to philanthropy is evident through his contributions to concerts such as: Hair with an all-star cast featuring Jennifer Hudson (Grammy nomination), Funny Girl featuring 16 Fanny Brices, including Whoopi Goldberg, Idina Menzel and Kristen Chenoweth; Dreamgirls with Lillias White, Audra McDonald, Heather Headley and Billy Porter and Seth Rudetsky's Broadway 101, all for the Actors’ Fund, the entertainment industry’s largest charitable organization. He has also dedicated nine years as an Artistic Associate for Broadway Bares, one of the largest fundraisers for Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS.

Deepa Liegel (she/her)

Deepa Liegel was born in Calcutta, India and raised in Seattle, Washington. She is currently a member of the Limon Dance Company, in New York City, NY. Deepa grew up dancing with Cornish Preparatory Dance, Leela Kathak Dance and Seattle Theatre Group. She received her BFA in Dance Performance, cum laude and a minor in Arts Management from Southern Methodist University. Post graduation, Deepa moved to New York to apprentice with the Limón Dance Company.  

During that year, she also freelanced with Broadway Cares’ Broadway Bares, Barkha Dance Company, Bollywood Boulevard the Tour and Catherine Cabeen/Hyphen. She then joined the Mark Morris Dance Group and toured domestically and internationally. Highlights include: performances at the Kennedy Center, Metropolitan Opera and Sadler’s Wells and a seven-week tour across the UK and Ireland with Dance Consortium. During the pandemic, Deepa earned her classical Pilates certification through Power Pilates, NYC. She taught at Western Washington University, Cornish College of the Arts and The Ballet Spot. She also worked with Ja’Malik and Dance Lab NY on a virtual lab, NEXUS. Most recently, Deepa was a featured dancer in Delta Rae’s music video for The Beast, Voodoo by J Balvin x Badshah, and a reimagined version of José Limón’s The Winged, a collaboration of Site B Studios and Perry-Mansfield Performing Arts. 

Gauri Mangala (she/her)

Gauri Mangala is a first-generation Indian-American producer and sometimes-writer based in Philadelphia. Gauri is the Associate Producer at Broadway & Beyond Theatricals (Broadway: THE COTTAGE). Previous artistic homes include: Hasan Minhaj: The King's Jester (National tour), Hedgerow Theatre, the Strides Collective, People's Light, Delaware Theatre Company, and the Fisher Center for the Arts. She holds a B.A. in Theatre Arts and Anthropology from Gettysburg College, where she was the recipient of the 2021 Emile O. Schmidt Excellence in Theatre award. Gauri is passionate about building communities and spaces that fight for access, equity, and opportunity for all.

Barkha Patel (she/her)

Barkha Patel is a kathak dancer, choreographer, educator, and the Artistic Director of Barkha Dance Company based in New York City. Barkha has performed solo and ensemble works at dance festivals in India and the U.S. Her work has had the opportunity to present at venues such as Dance Theatre Harlem, Jacob’s Pillow Inside/Out, Joyce Theatre and Little Island Dance Festival, 92Y, and Chelsea Factory among others. Barkha is currently in residency with Movement Research and in fellowship with Harlem Stage in NYC . Barkha was a Jerome Hill Artist Finalist 2023 (Jerome Foundation) and awarded the 2023 Juried Bessie Award.

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Barkha is also the co-founder of Aangan, South Asian Center for Art & Thought. Aangan’s mission is to serve South Asian art, artists, and aesthetes of all backgrounds. We seek to build community by fostering learning and dialogue across art forms and creating spaces for artists to convene, collaborate, present, and reflect on their work.

Ramita Ravi (she/her)

Ramita Ravi is a professional dancer, choreographer, and educator based in NYC. She graduated from UPenn and is currently signed with Bloc Talent Agency NY/LA working across TV/Film/Theater. She was one of the first South Asians to be featured on So You Think You Can Dance (Season 14) and one of the first South Asians in the Radio City Christmas Spectacular. Other performance credits include feature film Spinning Gold with Jeremy Jordan & Wiz Khalifa, Last Week Tonight with John Oliver, world premiere musical Bhangin’ It (La Jolla Playhouse - Dance Captain), NYFW with Hermès, TNT’s “I Am The Night” Premier, Viceland, NOWThis, Lincoln Center, ClassPass Live, “Aida” (Engeman Theater), and Mystic India: The World Tour and more.

She has choreographed for Coachella, The Hollywood Bowl, Miss America, Raveena (International Tour, NPR’s Tiny Desk, Music Videos), KSHMR (US Tour) DanceOn, Lincoln Center, Capezio and the Philadelphia Museum of Art. She has been on faculty with Liberate Artists, Headliners, Star Dance Alliance, Nexus Dance, and Groove and has taught at Broadway Dance Center, Alvin Ailey Extension, Columbia University, and the Pittsburgh Cultural Trust.

Nikhil Saboo (he/him)

Nikhil Saboo is an Indian-Nepalese songwriter, investor, filmmaker, actor, and Chita Rivera Award nominated dancer. He graduated from NYU in 2015 with a degree in Vocal Performance and Business of Entertainment, Media, and Technology. Post-college, he made his broadway debut in the original Broadway cast of Mean Girls: The Musical. After a thrilling two years, he joined the Angelica Company of Hamilton. Post-pandemic he played Connor Murphy in Dear Evan Hansen, being the first POC and South Asian to take on the Tony-Nominated role. He was most recently seen in Tick, Tick.. Boom! at the Kennedy Center directed by Neil Patrick Harris. Nikhil is also a co-founder of NYRAA, a fashion marketplace and PR Agency for over 40+ top and emerging South Asian Designers and the editor and producer of the podcast Masterjis, highlighting the journeys and stories of South Asian designers. Above all, he strives to open spaces and uplift POCs, especially other aspiring South Asian artists.